erbeutenvserbeutetenWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#43,148
“erbeuten” frequency rank
#44,570
“erbeuteten” frequency rank
87718
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erbeuten erbeuteten
Definition etwas widerrechtlich in seinen Besitz nehmen; Beute machen Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erbeutet

Where the eye mixes erbeuten and erbeuteten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. erbeuten runs 8 letters (VCCVVCVC) against erbeuteten's 10 (VCCVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
erbeuten
10 ch
erbeuteten

Look-alike desk: erbeuten vs erbeuteten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erbeuten is [ɛɐ̯ˈbɔɪ̯tn̩] while erbeuteten is [ɛɐ̯ˈbɔɪ̯tətn̩]. 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 87718, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erbeuten is recorded at frequency rank #43,148, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈbɔɪ̯tn̩]. erbeuteten is at rank #44,570, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈbɔɪ̯tətn̩].

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 87718, this pair ranks #76,831 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of erbeuten vs erbeuteten

Shared letters: benrtu. Private to "erbeuten": -. Private to "erbeuteten": -.

"erbeuten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC  ·  "erbeuteten" · 10 letters · shape VCCVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erbeutenebreuten · erbbeuten · erbetuen · erbeuetn · erbeutenn · erbeutne · erbeutten · erbueten
  • erbeutetenebreuteten · erbbeuteten · erbetueten · erbeuetten · erbeuteetn · erbeutetenn · erbeutetne · erbeutetten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "erbeuten" for "erbeuteten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "erbeuten" is a verb and "erbeuteten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "erbeuten" vs "erbeuteten" - which ranks higher?
"erbeuten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43,148 in our German list, against #44,570 for "erbeuteten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "erbeuten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erbeuteten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #76,831 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erbeuten" and "erbeuteten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erbeuten 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 #76,831 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