Which to use
“erschweren” is a verb and “erschwerte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,795
- “erschweren” frequency rank
- #43,849
- “erschwerte” frequency rank
- 58644
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erschweren | erschwerte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas schwieriger machen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erschwert |
Where the eye mixes erschweren and erschwerte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. erschweren (VCCCCCVCVC) and erschwerte (VCCCCCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses erschweren with erschwerte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erschweren is [ɛɐ̯ˈʃveːʁən] while erschwerte is [ɛɐ̯ˈʃveːɐ̯tə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58644, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erschweren is recorded at frequency rank #14,795, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʃveːʁən]. erschwerte is at rank #43,849, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʃveːɐ̯tə].
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 58644, this pair ranks #854,806 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of erschweren vs erschwerte
Shared letters: cehrsw. Private to "erschweren": n. Private to "erschwerte": t.
"erschweren" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCCVCVC · "erschwerte" · 10 letters · shape VCCCCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- erschweren ← ercshweren · errschweren · erscchweren · erschewren · erschhweren · erschweern · erschwerenn · erschwerne
- erschwerte ← ercshwerte · errschwerte · erscchwerte · erschewrte · erschhwerte · erschweret · erschwerrte · erschwertte
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erschweren" and "erschwerte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "erschweren" vs "erschwerte" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erschweren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erschwerte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #854,806 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erschweren" and "erschwerte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erschwerte vs erschwerten". 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 #854,806 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.