Which to use
“ersuchen” and “erwachen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,179
- “ersuchen” frequency rank
- #12,069
- “erwachen” frequency rank
- 40248
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ersuchen | erwachen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | höflich um etwas bitten | aufhören zu schlafen; wach werden |
Where the eye mixes ersuchen and erwachen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ersuchen and erwachen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between ersuchen and erwachen
A purely visual mix-up. ersuchen ([ɛɐ̯ˈzuːxn̩]) and erwachen ([ɛɐ̯ˈvaxn̩]) 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 40248, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ersuchen is recorded at frequency rank #28,179, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈzuːxn̩]. erwachen is at rank #12,069, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvaxn̩].
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 40248, this pair ranks #1,513,934 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ersuchen vs erwachen
Shared letters: cehnr. Private to "ersuchen": su. Private to "erwachen": aw.
"ersuchen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "erwachen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ersuchen" for "erwachen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ersuchen" vs "erwachen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ersuchen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erwachen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,513,934 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ersuchen" and "erwachen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ersuchen vs Eschen". 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 #1,513,934 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.