Which to use
“Erbes” is a noun and “erstes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,530
- “Erbes” frequency rank
- #1,510
- “erstes” frequency rank
- 33040
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Erbes | erstes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Erbe | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erste |
Where the eye mixes Erbes and erstes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Erbes runs 5 letters (VCCVC) against erstes's 6 (VCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Erbes vs erstes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Erbes is [ˈɛʁbəs] while erstes is [ˈeːɐ̯stəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33040, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Erbes is recorded at frequency rank #31,530, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛʁbəs]. erstes is at rank #1,510, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeːɐ̯stəs].
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 33040, this pair ranks #1,694,583 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Erbes vs erstes
Shared letters: ers. Private to "Erbes": b. Private to "erstes": t.
"Erbes" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "erstes" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Erbes" and "erstes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "Erbes" or "erstes"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Erbes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erstes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,694,583 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Erbes" and "erstes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Erbes 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 #1,694,583 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.