erbautenvserbittenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: erbauten is a adjective, erbitten is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#28,631
“erbauten” frequency rank
#39,314
“erbitten” frequency rank
67945
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erbauten erbitten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erbaut jemanden um etwas dringend bitten, dringend um etwas nachsuchen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set erbauten and erbitten apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
erbauten
8 ch
erbitten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erbauten is [ɛɐ̯ˈbaʊ̯tn̩] while erbitten is [ɛɐ̯ˈbɪtn̩]. 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 67945, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erbauten is recorded at frequency rank #28,631, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈbaʊ̯tn̩]. erbitten is at rank #39,314, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈbɪtn̩].

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 67945, this pair ranks #523,672 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erbauten vs erbitten

Shared letters: benrt. Private to "erbauten": au. Private to "erbitten": i.

"erbauten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC  ·  "erbitten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erbautenebrauten · erabuten · erbatuen · erbauetn · erbautenn · erbautne · erbautten · erbbauten
  • erbittenebritten · erbbitten · erbiten · erbitetn · erbittenn · erbittne · erbtiten · eribtten

Frequency comparison

erbauten#28,631
erbitten#39,314

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erbauten" and "erbitten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "erbauten" is an adjective and "erbitten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "erbauten" or "erbitten"?
"erbauten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,631 in our German list, against #39,314 for "erbitten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering erbauten vs erbitten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “erbauten”; for a verb, it's “erbitten”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “erbauten” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list