Which to use
“erwägen” and “erwarten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,327
- “erwägen” frequency rank
- #1,127
- “erwarten” frequency rank
- 25454
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erwägen | erwarten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in Betracht ziehen | auf jemanden oder etwas warten, dem Eintreffen von etwas entgegensehen; denken, dass etwas kommen oder passieren wird |
Where the eye mixes erwägen and erwarten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. erwägen runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against erwarten's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: erwägen vs erwarten
A purely visual mix-up. erwägen ([ɛɐ̯ˈvɛːɡn̩]) and erwarten ([ɛɐ̯ˈvaʁtn̩]) 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 25454, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erwägen is recorded at frequency rank #24,327, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvɛːɡn̩]. erwarten is at rank #1,127, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvaʁtn̩].
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 25454, this pair ranks #1,833,037 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erwägen vs erwarten
Shared letters: enrw. Private to "erwägen": gä. Private to "erwarten": at.
"erwägen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "erwarten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- erwarten ← erawrten · errwarten · erwaretn · erwarrten · erwartenn · erwartne · erwartten · erwatren
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erwägen" and "erwarten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "erwägen" or "erwarten" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "erwägen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erwarten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,833,037 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erwägen" and "erwarten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erwägen vs erwarben". 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 #1,833,037 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.