erzwingenvserzwingtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,081
“erzwingen” frequency rank
#43,852
“erzwingt” frequency rank
58933
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erzwingen erzwingt
Definition etwas (von jemandem) mit Zwang oder psychischem Druck erreichen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erzwingen

Where the eye mixes erzwingen and erzwingt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erzwingen runs 9 letters (VCCCVCCVC) against erzwingt's 8 (VCCCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
erzwingen
8 ch
erzwingt

Visual trap between erzwingen and erzwingt

A purely visual mix-up. erzwingen ([ɛɐ̯ˈt͡svɪŋən]) and erzwingt ([ɛɐ̯ˈt͡svɪŋt]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58933, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erzwingen is recorded at frequency rank #15,081, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡svɪŋən]. erzwingt is at rank #43,852, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡svɪŋt].

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 58933, this pair ranks #843,729 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erzwingen vs erzwingt

Shared letters: eginrwz. Private to "erzwingen": -. Private to "erzwingt": t.

"erzwingen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC  ·  "erzwingt" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erzwingen ← errzwingen · erwzingen · erziwngen · erzwignen · erzwinegn · erzwingenn · erzwinggen · erzwingne
  • erzwingt ← errzwingt · erwzingt · erziwngt · erzwignt · erzwinggt · erzwingtt · erzwinngt · erzwintg

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erzwingen" and "erzwingt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈt͡svɪŋən] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡svɪŋt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "erzwingen" vs "erzwingt" - which ranks higher?
"erzwingen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,081 in our German list, against #43,852 for "erzwingt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erzwingen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erzwingt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #843,729 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erzwingen" and "erzwingt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erbringt vs erzwingt". 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 #843,729 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