erregenvsertragenTell them apart

Which to use

“erregen” and “ertragen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,875
“erregen” frequency rank
#4,878
“ertragen” frequency rank
22753
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erregen ertragen
Definition jemanden oder sich in Unruhe oder Ärger versetzen; jemanden aktivieren; jemanden (sexuell) stimulieren eine unangenehme oder schwierige Situation hinnehmen und deswegen nicht die Beherrschung verlieren oder zusammenbrechen

Where the eye mixes erregen and ertragen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. erregen runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against ertragen's 8 (VCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
erregen
8 ch
ertragen

Visual trap between erregen and ertragen

A purely visual mix-up. erregen ([ɛɐ̯ˈʁeːɡn̩]) and ertragen ([ɛɐ̯ˈtʁaːɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22753, 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]. ertragen is at rank #4,878, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈtʁaːɡn̩].

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 22753, this pair ranks #1,870,211 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erregen vs ertragen

Shared letters: egnr. Private to "erregen": -. Private to "ertragen": at.

"erregen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "ertragen" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erregen ← eregen · erergen · erreegn · erregenn · erreggen · erregne · errgeen · reregen
  • ertragen ← errtagen · errtragen · ertargen · ertraegn · ertragenn · ertraggen · ertragne · ertrgaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erregen" and "ertragen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈʁeːɡn̩] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈtʁaːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "erregen" vs "ertragen" - which ranks higher?
"ertragen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,878 in our German list, against #17,875 for "erregen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erregen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ertragen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,870,211 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erregen" and "ertragen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erregen 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 #1,870,211 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