erzwingenvserzwungeneWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: erzwingen is a verb, erzwungene is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“erzwingen” is a verb and “erzwungene” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,081
“erzwingen” frequency rank
#32,511
“erzwungene” frequency rank
47592
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erzwingen erzwungene
Definition etwas (von jemandem) mit Zwang oder psychischem Druck erreichen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erzwungen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set erzwingen and erzwungene apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
erzwingen
10 ch
erzwungene

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erzwingen is [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡svɪŋən] while erzwungene is [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡svʊŋənə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47592, 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]. erzwungene is at rank #32,511, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡svʊŋənə].

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 47592, this pair ranks #1,278,933 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erzwingen vs erzwungene

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

"erzwingen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC  ·  "erzwungene" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erzwingenerrzwingen · erwzingen · erziwngen · erzwignen · erzwinegn · erzwingenn · erzwinggen · erzwingne
  • erzwungeneerrzwungene · erwzungene · erzuwngene · erzwnugene · erzwugnene · erzwunegne · erzwungeen · erzwungenne

Frequency comparison

erzwingen#15,081
erzwungene#32,511

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erzwingen" and "erzwungene" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "erzwingen" is a verb and "erzwungene" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "erzwingen" or "erzwungene"?
"erzwingen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,081 in our German list, against #32,511 for "erzwungene". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering erzwingen vs erzwungene

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “erzwingen”; for an adjective, it's “erzwungene”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “erzwingen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list