Which to use
“erst” is an adverb and “ESM” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #159
- “erst” frequency rank
- #39,921
- “ESM” frequency rank
- 40080
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erst | ESM |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | zuvor, vorher | Europäischer Stabilitätsmechanismus |
Where the eye mixes erst and ESM
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. erst runs 4 letters (VCCC) against ESM's 3 (VCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between erst and ESM
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erst is [eːɐ̯st] while ESM is [eːʔɛsˈʔɛm]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs abbrev), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40080, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erst is recorded at frequency rank #159, classified as anadv, pronounced [eːɐ̯st]. ESM is at rank #39,921, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [eːʔɛsˈʔɛm].
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 40080, this pair ranks #1,518,633 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erst vs ESM
Shared letters: es. Private to "erst": rt. Private to "ESM": m.
"erst" · 4 letters · shape VCCC · "ESM" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- erst ← errst · ersst · erstt · erts · esrt
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erst" and "ESM" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "erst" or "ESM"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "erst" and "ESM" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "erst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ESM" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,518,633 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erst" and "ESM" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ESM vs Esra". 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 #1,518,633 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.