Which to use
“erwische” and “erwischen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,578
- “erwische” frequency rank
- #13,592
- “erwischen” frequency rank
- 58170
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erwische | erwischen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erwischen | jemanden oder etwas in die Hände, in die Gewalt, zu fassen bekommen, festhalten |
Where the eye mixes erwische and erwischen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. erwische runs 8 letters (VCCVCCCV) against erwischen's 9 (VCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses erwische with erwischen
A purely visual mix-up. erwische ([ɛɐ̯ˈvɪʃə]) and erwischen ([ɛɐ̯ˈvɪʃn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “erwische” sits inside “erwischen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58170, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erwische is recorded at frequency rank #44,578, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvɪʃə]. erwischen is at rank #13,592, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvɪʃn̩].
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 58170, this pair ranks #873,041 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of erwische vs erwischen
Shared letters: cehirsw. Private to "erwische": -. Private to "erwischen": n.
"erwische" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCV · "erwischen" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erwische" for "erwischen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "erwische" vs "erwischen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erwische" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erwischen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #873,041 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erwische" and "erwischen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "epische vs erwische". 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 #873,041 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.