Which to use
“erweitern” is a verb and “Erweiterung” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,294
- “erweitern” frequency rank
- #3,577
- “Erweiterung” frequency rank
- 9871
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erweitern | Erweiterung |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | vergrößern, weiten | Vergrößerung, auch Ausbau eines technischen Systems oder einer Organisation |
Where the eye mixes erweitern and Erweiterung
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. erweitern runs 9 letters (VCCVVCVCC) against Erweiterung's 11 (VCCVVCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between erweitern and Erweiterung
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erweitern is [ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯tɐn] while Erweiterung is [ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯təʁʊŋ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9871, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erweitern is recorded at frequency rank #6,294, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯tɐn]. Erweiterung is at rank #3,577, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯təʁʊŋ].
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 9871, this pair ranks #1,977,898 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erweitern vs Erweiterung
Shared letters: einrtw. Private to "erweitern": -. Private to "Erweiterung": gu.
"erweitern" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCVCC · "Erweiterung" · 11 letters · shape VCCVVCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- erweitern ← erewitern · errweitern · erweietrn · erweitenr · erweiternn · erweiterrn · erweitren · erweittern
- Erweiterung ← erewiterung · errweiterung · erweietrung · erweiternug · erweiterrung · erweiterugn · erweiterungg · erweiterunng
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erweitern" for "Erweiterung" ever safe?
Frequency check: "erweitern" vs "Erweiterung" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "erweitern" and "Erweiterung" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "erweitern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Erweiterung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,977,898 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erweitern" and "Erweiterung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erweitern vs erwidern". 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 #1,977,898 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.