ehrtevsErbeWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: ehrte is a verb, Erbe is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ehrte” is a verb and “Erbe” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,150
“ehrte” frequency rank
#4,874
“Erbe” frequency rank
40024
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ehrte Erbe
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs ehren Besitz eines Verstorbenen, der an eine lebende Person übertragen werden kann

Where the eye mixes ehrte and Erbe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
ehrte
4 ch
Erbe

Why the eye confuses ehrte with Erbe

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ehrte is [ˈeːɐ̯tə] while Erbe is [ˈɛʁbə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40024, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ehrte is recorded at frequency rank #35,150, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈeːɐ̯tə]. Erbe is at rank #4,874, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛʁbə].

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 40024, this pair ranks #1,520,149 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ehrte vs Erbe

Shared letters: er. Private to "ehrte": ht. Private to "Erbe": b.

"ehrte" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV  ·  "Erbe" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ehrteehhrte · ehret · ehrrte · ehrtte · ehtre · erhte · herte
  • Erbeebre · erbbe · ereb · errbe · rebe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ehrte" for "Erbe" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ehrte" is a verb and "Erbe" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ehrte" or "Erbe"?
"Erbe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,874 in our German list, against #35,150 for "ehrte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ehrte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Erbe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,520,149 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ehrte" and "Erbe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ehrte 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 #1,520,149 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