Which to use
“erschienen” and “erschweren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,443
- “erschienen” frequency rank
- #14,795
- “erschweren” frequency rank
- 17238
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erschienen | erschweren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erscheinen | etwas schwieriger machen |
Where the eye mixes erschienen and erschweren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. erschienen (VCCCCVVCVC) and erschweren (VCCCCCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: erschienen vs erschweren
A purely visual mix-up. erschienen ([ɛɐ̯ˈʃiːnən]) and erschweren ([ɛɐ̯ˈʃveːʁən]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17238, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erschienen is recorded at frequency rank #2,443, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʃiːnən]. erschweren is at rank #14,795, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʃveːʁən].
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 17238, this pair ranks #1,929,151 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erschienen vs erschweren
Shared letters: cehnrs. Private to "erschienen": i. Private to "erschweren": w.
"erschienen" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCVVCVC · "erschweren" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- erschienen ← ercshienen · errschienen · erscchienen · erschhienen · erschieenn · erschienenn · erschienne · erschiennen
- erschweren ← ercshweren · errschweren · erscchweren · erschewren · erschhweren · erschweern · erschwerenn · erschwerne
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erschienen" and "erschweren" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "erschienen" or "erschweren" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "erschienen" and "erschweren" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "erschienen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erschweren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,929,151 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erschienen" and "erschweren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erschweren vs erschwerte". 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 #1,929,151 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.