Which to use
“erwecken” and “erwirken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,591
- “erwecken” frequency rank
- #26,856
- “erwirken” frequency rank
- 40447
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erwecken | erwirken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden wach machen, zum Leben bringen | nach den Regeln entsprechenden Bemühungen, zum Beispiel einem formgerechten Antrag auf ein Begehren, einen positiven Bescheid erhalten |
Where the eye mixes erwecken and erwirken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. erwecken and erwirken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: erwecken vs erwirken
A purely visual mix-up. erwecken ([ɛɐ̯ˈvɛkn̩]) and erwirken ([ɛɐ̯ˈvɪʁkn̩]) 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 40447, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erwecken is recorded at frequency rank #13,591, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvɛkn̩]. erwirken is at rank #26,856, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvɪʁkn̩].
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 40447, this pair ranks #1,508,223 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of erwecken vs erwirken
Shared letters: eknrw. Private to "erwecken": c. Private to "erwirken": i.
"erwecken" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "erwirken" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erwecken" and "erwirken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "erwecken" or "erwirken" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erwecken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erwirken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,508,223 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erwecken" and "erwirken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erwarben vs erwirken". 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 #1,508,223 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.