erbetenvserobertenConfusable pair

Quick tell: erbeten is a verb, eroberten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#28,632
“erbeten” frequency rank
#21,957
“eroberten” frequency rank
50589
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erbeten eroberten
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erbitten Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erobert

Where the eye mixes erbeten and eroberten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erbeten runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against eroberten's 9 (VCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
erbeten
9 ch
eroberten

Why the eye confuses erbeten with eroberten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erbeten is [ɛɐ̯ˈbeːtn̩] while eroberten is [ɛɐ̯ˈʔoːbɐtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50589, 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]. eroberten is at rank #21,957, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʔoːbɐtn̩].

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 50589, this pair ranks #1,167,929 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erbeten vs eroberten

Shared letters: benrt. Private to "erbeten": -. Private to "eroberten": o.

"erbeten" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "eroberten" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erbetenebreten · erbbeten · erbeetn · erbetenn · erbetne · erbetten · erbteen · erebten
  • eroberteneorberten · erboerten · erobberten · eroberetn · eroberrten · erobertenn · erobertne · erobertten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "erbeten" and "eroberten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "erbeten" is a verb and "eroberten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "erbeten" or "eroberten" show up more?
"eroberten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,957 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.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erbeten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "eroberten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,167,929 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erbeten" and "eroberten" 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 #1,167,929 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