ellavserlagConfusable pair

Quick tell: ella is a conjunction, erlag is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ella” is a conjunction and “erlag” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,612
“ella” frequency rank
#22,326
“erlag” frequency rank
37938
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ella erlag
Definition oder 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs erliegen

Where the eye mixes ella and erlag

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

4 ch
ella
5 ch
erlag

Look-alike desk: ella vs erlag

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ella is [ˈɛdla] while erlag is [ɛɐ̯ˈlaːk]. 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 (conjunction vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37938, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ella is recorded at frequency rank #15,612, classified as aconj, pronounced [ˈɛdla]. erlag is at rank #22,326, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈlaːk].

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 37938, this pair ranks #1,577,160 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ella vs erlag

Shared letters: ael. Private to "ella": -. Private to "erlag": gr.

"ella" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "erlag" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ellaela · elal · lela
  • erlagelrag · eralg · erlagg · erlga · erllag · errlag · relag

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ella" and "erlag" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ella" is a conjunction and "erlag" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ella" vs "erlag" - which ranks higher?
"ella" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,612 in our German list, against #22,326 for "erlag". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ella" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erlag" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,577,160 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ella" and "erlag" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erlag 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 #1,577,160 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