erbautvserbtConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#9,184
“erbaut” frequency rank
#39,912
“erbt” frequency rank
49096
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erbaut erbt
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erbauen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erben

Where the eye mixes erbaut and erbt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
erbaut
4 ch
erbt

Why the eye confuses erbaut with erbt

A purely visual mix-up. erbaut ([ɛɐ̯ˈbaʊ̯t]) and erbt ([ɛʁpt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49096, 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]. erbt is at rank #39,912, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛʁpt].

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 49096, this pair ranks #1,224,209 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erbaut vs erbt

Shared letters: bert. Private to "erbaut": au. Private to "erbt": -.

"erbaut" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC  ·  "erbt" · 4 letters · shape VCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erbautebraut · erabut · erbatu · erbautt · erbbaut · erbuat · errbaut · rebaut
  • erbterbbt · erbtt · errbt · ertb · rebt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "erbaut" for "erbt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈbaʊ̯t] versus [ɛʁpt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "erbaut" or "erbt"?
"erbaut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,184 in our German list, against #39,912 for "erbt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "erbaut" and "erbt" 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 "erbt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,224,209 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erbaut" and "erbt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erbt 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 #1,224,209 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