EhrevsElfeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,439
“Ehre” frequency rank
#43,837
“Elfe” frequency rank
46276
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ehre Elfe
Definition innere Würde, die ein Mensch sich selbst gegenüber empfindet weibliches Fabelwesen mit menschlicher/menschenähnlicher Gestalt

Where the eye mixes Ehre and Elfe

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

4 ch
Ehre
4 ch
Elfe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Ehre ([ˈeːʁə]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46276, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ehre is recorded at frequency rank #2,439, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈeːʁə]. 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 46276, this pair ranks #1,324,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ehre vs Elfe

Shared letters: e. Private to "Ehre": hr. Private to "Elfe": fl.

"Ehre" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "Elfe" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Ehreehhre · ehrre · erhe
  • Elfeefle · elef · elffe · ellfe · lefe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ehre" and "Elfe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈeːʁə] versus [ˈɛlfə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Ehre" or "Elfe"?
"Ehre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,439 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.

What to do next

You've compared "Ehre" and "Elfe". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ehre" 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 #1,324,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ehre" 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list