Which to use
“errungen” is a verb and “ertrunken” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,559
- “errungen” frequency rank
- #20,906
- “ertrunken” frequency rank
- 40465
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | errungen | ertrunken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erringen | durch Versinken in Wasser (und folgenden Sauerstoffmangel) gestorben |
Where the eye mixes errungen and ertrunken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. errungen runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against ertrunken's 9 (VCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: errungen vs ertrunken
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: errungen is [ɛɐ̯ˈʁʊŋən] while ertrunken is [ɛɐ̯ˈtʁʊŋkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40465, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
errungen is recorded at frequency rank #19,559, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʁʊŋən]. ertrunken is at rank #20,906, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈtʁʊŋkn̩].
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 40465, this pair ranks #1,507,698 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of errungen vs ertrunken
Shared letters: enru. Private to "errungen": g. Private to "ertrunken": kt.
"errungen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "ertrunken" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "errungen" and "ertrunken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "errungen" or "ertrunken" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "errungen" and "ertrunken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "errungen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ertrunken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,507,698 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "errungen" and "ertrunken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ertränken vs ertrunken". 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 #1,507,698 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.