EhevsElfeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,071
“Ehe” frequency rank
#43,837
“Elfe” frequency rank
44908
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ehe Elfe
Definition institutionell anerkannte und beurkundete Verbindung zweier Menschen, die in der Regel durch eine Liebesbeziehung, gemeinsame Lebensführung und dauerhaftes Bestehen (sowie oft, aber nicht überall, auch durch den Ausschluss einer gleichzeitigen gleichartigen Verbindung mit einem Dritten) gekennzeichnet ist weibliches Fabelwesen mit menschlicher/menschenähnlicher Gestalt

Where the eye mixes Ehe and Elfe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
Ehe
4 ch
Elfe

Visual trap between Ehe and Elfe

A purely visual mix-up. Ehe ([ˈeːə]) and Elfe ([ˈɛlfə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44908, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ehe is recorded at frequency rank #1,071, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈeːə]. Elfe is at rank #43,837, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛlfə].

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 44908, this pair ranks #1,370,749 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ehe vs Elfe

Shared letters: e. Private to "Ehe": h. Private to "Elfe": fl.

"Ehe" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "Elfe" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Elfeefle · elef · elffe · ellfe · lefe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ehe" and "Elfe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈeːə] versus [ˈɛlfə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Ehe" or "Elfe"?
"Ehe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,071 in our German list, against #43,837 for "Elfe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ehe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Elfe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,370,749 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ehe" and "Elfe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Elfe vs Erle". 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 #1,370,749 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