Which to use
“erwächst” is a verb and “erwachte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,790
- “erwächst” frequency rank
- #28,642
- “erwachte” frequency rank
- 70432
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erwächst | erwachte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erwachsen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erwacht |
Where the eye mixes erwächst and erwachte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. erwächst (VCCVCCCC) and erwachte (VCCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: erwächst vs erwachte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erwächst is [ɛɐ̯ˈvɛkst] while erwachte is [ɛɐ̯ˈvaxtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 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 70432, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erwächst is recorded at frequency rank #41,790, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvɛkst]. erwachte is at rank #28,642, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvaxtə].
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 70432, this pair ranks #446,549 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of erwächst vs erwachte
Shared letters: cehrtw. Private to "erwächst": sä. Private to "erwachte": a.
"erwächst" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCC · "erwachte" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- erwachte ← erawchte · errwachte · erwacchte · erwachet · erwachhte · erwachtte · erwacthe · erwahcte
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erwächst" and "erwachte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "erwächst" or "erwachte"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erwächst" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erwachte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #446,549 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erwächst" and "erwachte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erwächst vs erwähnst". 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 #446,549 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.