erwünschtvserwünschteConfusable pair

Which to use

“erwünscht” and “erwünschte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,704
“erwünscht” frequency rank
#46,623
“erwünschte” frequency rank
55327
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erwünscht erwünschte
Definition von jemandem gewollt, herbeigesehnt Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erwünscht

Where the eye mixes erwünscht and erwünschte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. erwünscht runs 9 letters (VCCVCCCCC) against erwünschte's 10 (VCCVCCCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
erwünscht
10 ch
erwünschte

Look-alike desk: erwünscht vs erwünschte

A purely visual mix-up. erwünscht ([ɛɐ̯ˈvʏnʃt]) and erwünschte ([ɛɐ̯ˈvʏnʃtə]) 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) - “erwünscht” sits inside “erwünschte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55327, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erwünscht is recorded at frequency rank #8,704, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvʏnʃt]. erwünschte is at rank #46,623, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvʏnʃtə].

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 55327, this pair ranks #983,897 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erwünscht vs erwünschte

Shared letters: cehnrstwü. Private to "erwünscht": -. Private to "erwünschte": -.

"erwünscht" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCCC  ·  "erwünschte" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "erwünscht" for "erwünschte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈvʏnʃt] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈvʏnʃtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "erwünscht" or "erwünschte"?
"erwünscht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,704 in our German list, against #46,623 for "erwünschte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "erwünscht" and "erwünschte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erwünscht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erwünschte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #983,897 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erwünscht" and "erwünschte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erwünschte vs erwünschten". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #983,897 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list