erbetenvserhebenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,632
“erbeten” frequency rank
#5,077
“erheben” frequency rank
33709
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erbeten erheben
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erbitten jemanden oder etwas (physisch oder gesellschaftlich) in eine höhere Position bringen

Where the eye mixes erbeten and erheben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. erbeten and erheben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
erbeten
7 ch
erheben

Visual trap between erbeten and erheben

A purely visual mix-up. erbeten ([ɛɐ̯ˈbeːtn̩]) and erheben ([ɛɐ̯ˈheːbn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33709, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erbeten is recorded at frequency rank #28,632, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈbeːtn̩]. erheben is at rank #5,077, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈheːbn̩].

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 33709, this pair ranks #1,679,782 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erbeten vs erheben

Shared letters: benr. Private to "erbeten": t. Private to "erheben": h.

"erbeten" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "erheben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erbeten ← ebreten · erbbeten · erbeetn · erbetenn · erbetne · erbetten · erbteen · erebten
  • erheben ← ehreben · erehben · erhbeen · erhebben · erhebenn · erhebne · erheebn · erhheben

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "erbeten" and "erheben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈbeːtn̩] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈheːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "erbeten" vs "erheben" - which ranks higher?
"erheben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,077 in our German list, against #28,632 for "erbeten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "erbeten" and "erheben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erbeten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erheben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,679,782 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erbeten" and "erheben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erbeten vs erregten". 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 #1,679,782 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list