Which to use
“erstere” and “erstes” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,592
- “erstere” frequency rank
- #1,510
- “erstes” frequency rank
- 23102
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erstere | erstes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | von zweien oder mehreren zuerst genannt | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erste |
Where the eye mixes erstere and erstes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. erstere runs 7 letters (VCCCVCV) against erstes's 6 (VCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between erstere and erstes
A purely visual mix-up. erstere ([ˈeːɐ̯stəʁə]) and erstes ([ˈeːɐ̯stəs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23102, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erstere is recorded at frequency rank #21,592, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːɐ̯stəʁə]. erstes is at rank #1,510, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːɐ̯stəs].
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 23102, this pair ranks #1,865,758 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erstere vs erstes
Shared letters: erst. Private to "erstere": -. Private to "erstes": -.
"erstere" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV · "erstes" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erstere" for "erstes" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "erstere" or "erstes" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "erstere" and "erstes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "erstere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erstes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,865,758 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erstere" and "erstes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Easter vs erstere". 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 #1,865,758 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.