ersehntenvserwähntenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#38,087
“ersehnten” frequency rank
#8,203
“erwähnten” frequency rank
46290
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ersehnten erwähnten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs ersehnt Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erwähnt

Where the eye mixes ersehnten and erwähnten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. ersehnten and erwähnten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
ersehnten
9 ch
erwähnten

Look-alike desk: ersehnten vs erwähnten

A purely visual mix-up. ersehnten ([ɛɐ̯ˈzeːntn̩]) and erwähnten ([ɛɐ̯ˈvɛːntn̩]) 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 46290, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ersehnten is recorded at frequency rank #38,087, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈzeːntn̩]. erwähnten is at rank #8,203, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvɛːntn̩].

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 46290, this pair ranks #1,324,209 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ersehnten vs erwähnten

Shared letters: ehnrt. Private to "ersehnten": s. Private to "erwähnten": wä.

"ersehnten" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC  ·  "erwähnten" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ersehnten ← ereshnten · errsehnten · ersehhnten · ersehnetn · ersehnnten · ersehntenn · ersehntne · ersehntten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ersehnten" and "erwähnten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈzeːntn̩] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈvɛːntn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ersehnten" or "erwähnten"?
"erwähnten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,203 in our German list, against #38,087 for "ersehnten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ersehnten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erwähnten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,324,209 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ersehnten" and "erwähnten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ersehnten vs ersetzten". 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 #1,324,209 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