erzwingenvserzwungenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#15,081
“erzwingen” frequency rank
#29,566
“erzwungen” frequency rank
44647
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erzwingen erzwungen
Definition etwas (von jemandem) mit Zwang oder psychischem Druck erreichen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erzwingen

Where the eye mixes erzwingen and erzwungen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. erzwingen and erzwungen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
erzwingen
9 ch
erzwungen

Visual trap between erzwingen and erzwungen

A purely visual mix-up. erzwingen ([ɛɐ̯ˈt͡svɪŋən]) and erzwungen ([ɛɐ̯ˈt͡svʊŋən]) 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 a single letter - i in “erzwingen” becomes u in “erzwungen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44647, 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]. erzwungen is at rank #29,566, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡svʊŋən].

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 44647, this pair ranks #1,379,399 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erzwingen vs erzwungen

Shared letters: egnrwz. Private to "erzwingen": i. Private to "erzwungen": u.

"erzwingen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC  ·  "erzwungen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erzwingen ← errzwingen · erwzingen · erziwngen · erzwignen · erzwinegn · erzwingenn · erzwinggen · erzwingne
  • erzwungen ← errzwungen · erwzungen · erzuwngen · erzwnugen · erzwugnen · erzwunegn · erzwungenn · erzwunggen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "erzwingen" and "erzwungen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈt͡svɪŋən] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡svʊŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "erzwingen" vs "erzwungen" - which ranks higher?
"erzwingen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,081 in our German list, against #29,566 for "erzwungen". 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 "erzwingen" and "erzwungen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erzwingen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erzwungen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,379,399 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erzwingen" and "erzwungen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erzwungen vs erzwungenen". 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 #1,379,399 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