Which to use
“erbauten” is an adjective and “erkaufen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,631
- “erbauten” frequency rank
- #36,297
- “erkaufen” frequency rank
- 64928
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erbauten | erkaufen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erbaut | etwas durch Anstrengung oder Opfer erlangen |
Where the eye mixes erbauten and erkaufen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between erbauten and erkaufen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erbauten is [ɛɐ̯ˈbaʊ̯tn̩] while erkaufen is [ɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯fn̩]. 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 64928, 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]. erkaufen is at rank #36,297, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯fn̩].
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 64928, this pair ranks #624,469 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of erbauten vs erkaufen
Shared letters: aenru. Private to "erbauten": bt. Private to "erkaufen": fk.
"erbauten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC · "erkaufen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erbauten" and "erkaufen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "erbauten" or "erkaufen" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "erbauten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erkaufen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #624,469 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erbauten" and "erkaufen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erkaufen vs erkauft". 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 #624,469 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.