Which to use
“erschien” and “erschienen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,591
- “erschien” frequency rank
- #2,443
- “erschienen” frequency rank
- 5034
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erschien | erschienen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs erscheinen | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erscheinen |
Where the eye mixes erschien and erschienen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. erschien runs 8 letters (VCCCCVVC) against erschienen's 10 (VCCCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses erschien with erschienen
A purely visual mix-up. erschien ([ɛɐ̯ˈʃiːn]) and erschienen ([ɛɐ̯ˈʃiːnən]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “erschien” sits inside “erschienen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5034, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erschien is recorded at frequency rank #2,591, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʃiːn]. erschienen is at rank #2,443, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʃiːnən].
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 5034, this pair ranks #1,995,977 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erschien vs erschienen
Shared letters: cehinrs. Private to "erschien": -. Private to "erschienen": -.
"erschien" · 8 letters · shape VCCCCVVC · "erschienen" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- erschien ← ercshien · errschien · erscchien · erschein · erschhien · erschienn · erschine · erscihen
- erschienen ← ercshienen · errschienen · erscchienen · erschhienen · erschieenn · erschienenn · erschienne · erschiennen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erschien" and "erschienen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "erschien" or "erschienen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "erschien" and "erschienen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "erschien" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erschienen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,995,977 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erschien" and "erschienen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erschien vs Eschen". 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 #1,995,977 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.