erarbeitenvserarbeiteteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: erarbeiten is a verb, erarbeitete is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“erarbeiten” is a verb and “erarbeitete” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,893
“erarbeiten” frequency rank
#23,499
“erarbeitete” frequency rank
33392
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erarbeiten erarbeitete
Definition durch schwere Arbeit erwerben Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erarbeitet

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set erarbeiten and erarbeitete apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
erarbeiten
11 ch
erarbeitete

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erarbeiten is [ɛɐ̯ˈʔaʁbaɪ̯tn̩] while erarbeitete is [ɛɐ̯ˈʔaʁbaɪ̯tətə]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33392, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erarbeiten is recorded at frequency rank #9,893, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʔaʁbaɪ̯tn̩]. erarbeitete is at rank #23,499, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʔaʁbaɪ̯tətə].

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 33392, this pair ranks #1,686,938 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erarbeiten vs erarbeitete

Shared letters: abeirt. Private to "erarbeiten": n. Private to "erarbeitete": -.

"erarbeiten" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVVCVC  ·  "erarbeitete" · 11 letters · shape VCVCCVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erarbeitenearrbeiten · erabreiten · erarbbeiten · erarbeietn · erarbeitenn · erarbeitne · erarbeitten · erarbetien
  • erarbeiteteearrbeitete · erabreitete · erarbbeitete · erarbeiette · erarbeiteet · erarbeitette · erarbeittee · erarbeittete

Frequency comparison

erarbeiten#9,893
erarbeitete#23,499

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erarbeiten" and "erarbeitete" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "erarbeiten" is a verb and "erarbeitete" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "erarbeiten" or "erarbeitete"?
"erarbeiten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,893 in our German list, against #23,499 for "erarbeitete". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering erarbeiten vs erarbeitete

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “erarbeiten”; for an adjective, it's “erarbeitete”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “erarbeiten” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list