erbautvsErbgutWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#9,184
“erbaut” frequency rank
#32,509
“Erbgut” frequency rank
41693
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erbaut Erbgut
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erbauen die Gesamtheit der in der DNS verschlüsselten Erbanlagen

Where the eye mixes erbaut and Erbgut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. erbaut (VCCVVC) and Erbgut (VCCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
erbaut
6 ch
Erbgut

Look-alike desk: erbaut vs Erbgut

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erbaut is [ɛɐ̯ˈbaʊ̯t] while Erbgut is [ˈɛʁpˌɡuːt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “erbaut” becomes g in “Erbgut”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erbaut is recorded at frequency rank #9,184, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈbaʊ̯t]. Erbgut is at rank #32,509, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛʁpˌɡuːt].

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 41693, this pair ranks #1,471,877 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erbaut vs Erbgut

Shared letters: bertu. Private to "erbaut": a. Private to "Erbgut": g.

"erbaut" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC  ·  "Erbgut" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erbaut ← ebraut · erabut · erbatu · erbautt · erbbaut · erbuat · errbaut · rebaut
  • Erbgut ← ebrgut · erbbgut · erbggut · erbgtu · erbgutt · erbugt · ergbut · errbgut

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "erbaut" for "Erbgut" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "erbaut" is a verb and "Erbgut" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "erbaut" or "Erbgut"?
"erbaut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,184 in our German list, against #32,509 for "Erbgut". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "erbaut" and "Erbgut" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erbaut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Erbgut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,471,877 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erbaut" and "Erbgut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Erbgut vs erbost". 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 #1,471,877 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