erreichevserreichenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#23,922
“erreiche” frequency rank
#826
“erreichen” frequency rank
24748
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erreiche erreichen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erreichen zu jemandem oder zu etwas hingelangen

Where the eye mixes erreiche and erreichen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. erreiche runs 8 letters (VCCVVCCV) against erreichen's 9 (VCCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
erreiche
9 ch
erreichen

Look-alike desk: erreiche vs erreichen

A purely visual mix-up. erreiche ([ɛɐ̯ˈʁaɪ̯çə]) and erreichen ([ɛɐ̯ˈʁaɪ̯çn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “erreiche” sits inside “erreichen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24748, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erreiche is recorded at frequency rank #23,922, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʁaɪ̯çə]. erreichen is at rank #826, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʁaɪ̯çn̩].

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 24748, this pair ranks #1,843,287 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erreiche vs erreichen

Shared letters: cehir. Private to "erreiche": -. Private to "erreichen": n.

"erreiche" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCCV  ·  "erreichen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erreicheereiche · ereriche · errecihe · erreicche · erreiceh · erreichhe · erreihce · errieche
  • erreichenereichen · ererichen · errecihen · erreicchen · erreicehn · erreichenn · erreichhen · erreichne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "erreiche" for "erreichen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈʁaɪ̯çə] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈʁaɪ̯çn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "erreiche" or "erreichen" show up more?
"erreichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #826 in our German list, against #23,922 for "erreiche". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "erreiche" and "erreichen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erreiche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erreichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,843,287 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erreiche" and "erreichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erreiche vs erreichst". 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 #1,843,287 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