erste

/[ˈeːɐ̯stə]/ num

Letters

5 characters

Frequency Rank

#250

in German word usage

Misspellings

6

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

erste is aGermannum. It means: (zeitlich oder örtlich oder in einer anderen Reihenfolge) an vorderster Stelle sich befindend, dem zweiten vorangehend Pronounced [ˈeːɐ̯stə]. It ranks #250 in German word frequency. Often confused with est and esse.

Key facts for erste
PropertyValue
Headworderste
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNum
IPA[ˈeːɐ̯stə]
Letters5
Frequency rank#250
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of erste in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for erste is 5 letters long, classified as anum, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈeːɐ̯stə]. Corpus data places it at rank #250 in overall German word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "(zeitlich oder örtlich oder in einer anderen Reihenfolge) an vorderster Stelle sich befindend, dem zweiten vorangehend".

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 6 documented wrong-spelling variants for erste, with forms such as "errste", "erset", and "ersste". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "est", "esse", "EStG", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is erste, spelled E-R-S-T-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    (zeitlich oder örtlich oder in einer anderen Reihenfolge) an vorderster Stelle sich befindend, dem zweiten vorangehend

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: errste,erset,ersste,erstte,ertse,esrte

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for erste

Misspelling Variants of "erste"

errste6erset5ersste6erstte6ertse5esrte5
Misspelling Variants of "erste"

Frequency rank: #250 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "erste"?
"erste" is spelled E-R-S-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈeːɐ̯stə].
What does "erste" mean?
As a num, "erste" means: (zeitlich oder örtlich oder in einer anderen Reihenfolge) an vorderster Stelle sich befindend, dem zweiten vorangehend
What words are commonly confused with "erste"?
"erste" is commonly confused with "est", "esse", "EStG". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "erste"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "erste" is [ˈeːɐ̯stə]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "erste" come from?
"erste" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter E in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.