erregenvserwogenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#17,875
“erregen” frequency rank
#25,993
“erwogen” frequency rank
43868
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erregen erwogen
Definition jemanden oder sich in Unruhe oder Ärger versetzen; jemanden aktivieren; jemanden (sexuell) stimulieren 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs erwägen

Where the eye mixes erregen and erwogen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. erregen and erwogen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
erregen
7 ch
erwogen

Why the eye confuses erregen with erwogen

A purely visual mix-up. erregen ([ɛɐ̯ˈʁeːɡn̩]) and erwogen ([ɛɐ̯ˈvoːɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43868, 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]. erwogen is at rank #25,993, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvoːɡn̩].

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 43868, this pair ranks #1,404,385 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erregen vs erwogen

Shared letters: egnr. Private to "erregen": -. Private to "erwogen": ow.

"erregen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "erwogen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erregen ← eregen · erergen · erreegn · erregenn · erreggen · erregne · errgeen · reregen
  • erwogen ← erowgen · errwogen · erwgoen · erwoegn · erwogenn · erwoggen · erwogne · erwwogen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "erregen" for "erwogen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈʁeːɡn̩] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈvoːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "erregen" vs "erwogen" - which ranks higher?
"erregen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,875 in our German list, against #25,993 for "erwogen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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 "erwogen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,404,385 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erregen" and "erwogen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ertönen vs erwogen". 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 #1,404,385 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