erregenvserregendWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: erregen is a verb, erregend is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“erregen” is a verb and “erregend” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,875
“erregen” frequency rank
#39,917
“erregend” frequency rank
57792
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erregen erregend
Definition jemanden oder sich in Unruhe oder Ärger versetzen; jemanden aktivieren; jemanden (sexuell) stimulieren ein Gefühl der Erregung verspürend

Where the eye mixes erregen and erregend

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erregen runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against erregend's 8 (VCCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
erregen
8 ch
erregend

Visual trap between erregen and erregend

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erregen is [ɛɐ̯ˈʁeːɡn̩] while erregend is [ɛɐ̯ˈʁeːɡn̩t]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “erregen” sits inside “erregend”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57792, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erregen is recorded at frequency rank #17,875, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʁeːɡn̩]. erregend is at rank #39,917, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʁeːɡn̩t].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 57792, this pair ranks #887,608 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erregen vs erregend

Shared letters: egnr. Private to "erregen": -. Private to "erregend": d.

"erregen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "erregend" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erregen ← eregen · erergen · erreegn · erregenn · erreggen · erregne · errgeen · reregen
  • erregend ← eregend · erergend · erreegnd · erregedn · erregendd · erregennd · erreggend · erregned

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erregen" and "erregend" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "erregen" is a verb and "erregend" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "erregen" or "erregend" show up more?
"erregen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,875 in our German list, against #39,917 for "erregend". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erregen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erregend" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #887,608 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erregen" and "erregend" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erregend vs erregten". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #887,608 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list