erschienvsersuchenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,591
“erschien” frequency rank
#28,179
“ersuchen” frequency rank
30770
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erschien ersuchen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs erscheinen höflich um etwas bitten

Where the eye mixes erschien and ersuchen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erschien (VCCCCVVC) and ersuchen (VCCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
erschien
8 ch
ersuchen

Visual trap between erschien and ersuchen

A purely visual mix-up. erschien ([ɛɐ̯ˈʃiːn]) and ersuchen ([ɛɐ̯ˈzuːxn̩]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30770, 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]. ersuchen is at rank #28,179, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈzuːxn̩].

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 30770, this pair ranks #1,741,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erschien vs ersuchen

Shared letters: cehnrs. Private to "erschien": i. Private to "ersuchen": u.

"erschien" · 8 letters · shape VCCCCVVC  ·  "ersuchen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erschien ← ercshien · errschien · erscchien · erschein · erschhien · erschienn · erschine · erscihen
  • ersuchen ← errsuchen · erscuhen · erssuchen · ersucchen · ersucehn · ersuchenn · ersuchhen · ersuchne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erschien" and "ersuchen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈʃiːn] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈzuːxn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "erschien" or "ersuchen"?
"erschien" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,591 in our German list, against #28,179 for "ersuchen". 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 "erschien" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ersuchen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,741,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erschien" and "ersuchen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ersuchen 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 #1,741,420 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