Which to use
“irren” is a verb and “Irrer” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,629
- “irren” frequency rank
- #29,180
- “Irrer” frequency rank
- 36809
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | irren | Irrer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | falsch liegen, einem Fehler aufsitzen, einen Irrtum begehen | (männliche^☆) Person, die an einer Psychose leidet, die verrückt ist |
Where the eye mixes irren and Irrer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses irren with Irrer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: irren is [ˈɪʁən] while Irrer is [ˈɪʁɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “irren” becomes r in “Irrer”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36809, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
irren is recorded at frequency rank #7,629, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɪʁən]. Irrer is at rank #29,180, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɪʁɐ].
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 36809, this pair ranks #1,606,172 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of irren vs Irrer
Shared letters: eir. Private to "irren": n. Private to "Irrer": -.
"irren" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "Irrer" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "irren" and "Irrer" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "irren" vs "Irrer" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "irren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Irrer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,606,172 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "irren" and "Irrer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Irrer vs irrte". 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 #1,606,172 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.