erfahren
[ɛɐ̯ˈfaːʁən]
The verdict
“erfahren” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #1,074 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #1,074
- frequency rank, German
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 17
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - durch eigenes Erleben kennen lernen
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | erfahren |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ɛɐ̯ˈfaːʁən] |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #1,074 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 17 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “erfahren” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for erfahren is 8 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ɛɐ̯ˈfaːʁən]. Corpus data places it at rank #1,074 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for erfahren, with forms such as "efrahren", "erafhren", and "erfahern". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 17 confusable-pair relationships, "erfährt", "ernähre", "erzählen", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is erfahren, spelled E-R-F-A-H-R-E-N.
Definition
- 1durch eigenes Erleben kennen lernen
- 2zur Kenntnis bekommen, von etwas Kenntnis erhalten, etwas mitgeteilt bekommen
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: efrahren,erafhren,erfahern,erfahhren,erfahrenn,erfahrne,erfahrren,erfarhen,erffahren,erfharen,errfahren,refahren
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of erfahren - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "erfahren"?
What does "erfahren" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "erfahren"?
How do you pronounce "erfahren"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “erfahren”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is E-R-F-A-H-R-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ɛɐ̯ˈfaːʁən] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “erfährt” - see the side-by-side comparison. erfahren vs erfährt
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.