ErbevsErbseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,874
“Erbe” frequency rank
#46,614
“Erbse” frequency rank
51488
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Erbe Erbse
Definition Besitz eines Verstorbenen, der an eine lebende Person übertragen werden kann Same einer Hülsenfrucht

Where the eye mixes Erbe and Erbse

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

4 ch
Erbe
5 ch
Erbse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Erbe ([ˈɛʁbə]) and Erbse ([ˈɛʁpsə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51488, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Erbe is recorded at frequency rank #4,874, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛʁbə]. Erbse is at rank #46,614, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛʁpsə].

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 51488, this pair ranks #1,133,653 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Erbe vs Erbse

Shared letters: ber. Private to "Erbe": -. Private to "Erbse": s.

"Erbe" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "Erbse" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Erbeebre · erbbe · ereb · errbe · rebe
  • Erbseebrse · erbbse · erbsse · errbse · ersbe · rebse

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Erbe" and "Erbse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɛʁbə] versus [ˈɛʁpsə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Erbe" or "Erbse"?
"Erbe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,874 in our German list, against #46,614 for "Erbse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "Erbe" and "Erbse". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Erbe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Erbse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,133,653 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Erbe" and "Erbse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Erbse 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list