erscheinevserscheintConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#34,080
“erscheine” frequency rank
#1,549
“erscheint” frequency rank
35629
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erscheine erscheint
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erscheinen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erscheinen

Where the eye mixes erscheine and erscheint

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. erscheine (VCCCCVVCV) and erscheint (VCCCCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
erscheine
9 ch
erscheint

Why the eye confuses erscheine with erscheint

A purely visual mix-up. erscheine ([ɛɐ̯ˈʃaɪ̯nə]) and erscheint ([ɛɐ̯ˈʃaɪ̯nt]) 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 a single letter - e in “erscheine” becomes t in “erscheint”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35629, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erscheine is recorded at frequency rank #34,080, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʃaɪ̯nə]. erscheint is at rank #1,549, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʃaɪ̯nt].

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 35629, this pair ranks #1,635,439 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erscheine vs erscheint

Shared letters: cehinrs. Private to "erscheine": -. Private to "erscheint": t.

"erscheine" · 9 letters · shape VCCCCVVCV  ·  "erscheint" · 9 letters · shape VCCCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erscheine ← ercsheine · errscheine · ersccheine · erscehine · erscheien · erschenie · erschheine · erschiene
  • erscheint ← ercsheint · errscheint · ersccheint · erscehint · erscheinnt · erscheintt · erscheitn · erschenit

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erscheine" and "erscheint" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈʃaɪ̯nə] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈʃaɪ̯nt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "erscheine" vs "erscheint" - which ranks higher?
"erscheint" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,549 in our German list, against #34,080 for "erscheine". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "erscheine" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erscheint" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,635,439 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erscheine" and "erscheint" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erscheine vs erscheinen". 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 #1,635,439 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