Which to use
“erwirken” and “erworben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,856
- “erwirken” frequency rank
- #4,428
- “erworben” frequency rank
- 31284
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erwirken | erworben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nach den Regeln entsprechenden Bemühungen, zum Beispiel einem formgerechten Antrag auf ein Begehren, einen positiven Bescheid erhalten | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erwerben |
Where the eye mixes erwirken and erworben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. erwirken and erworben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between erwirken and erworben
A purely visual mix-up. erwirken ([ɛɐ̯ˈvɪʁkn̩]) and erworben ([ɛɐ̯ˈvɔʁbn̩]) 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 31284, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erwirken is recorded at frequency rank #26,856, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvɪʁkn̩]. erworben is at rank #4,428, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvɔʁbn̩].
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 31284, this pair ranks #1,731,235 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erwirken vs erworben
Shared letters: enrw. Private to "erwirken": ik. Private to "erworben": bo.
"erwirken" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "erworben" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erwirken" for "erworben" ever safe?
Frequency check: "erwirken" vs "erworben" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "erwirken" and "erworben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "erwirken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erworben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,731,235 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erwirken" and "erworben" 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 #1,731,235 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.