Which to use
“erbaute” is an adjective and “erlaube” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,700
- “erbaute” frequency rank
- #16,693
- “erlaube” frequency rank
- 39393
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erbaute | erlaube |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erbaut | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erlauben |
Where the eye mixes erbaute and erlaube
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. erbaute and erlaube follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between erbaute and erlaube
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erbaute is [ɛɐ̯ˈbaʊ̯tə] while erlaube is [ɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯bə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39393, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erbaute is recorded at frequency rank #22,700, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈbaʊ̯tə]. erlaube is at rank #16,693, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯bə].
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 39393, this pair ranks #1,538,068 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erbaute vs erlaube
Shared letters: aberu. Private to "erbaute": t. Private to "erlaube": l.
"erbaute" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV · "erlaube" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "erbaute" and "erlaube" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "erbaute" or "erlaube"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "erbaute" and "erlaube" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "erbaute" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erlaube" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,538,068 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erbaute" and "erlaube" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erbaute vs erbeuten". 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 #1,538,068 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.