erbittenvsermittelnWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#39,314
“erbitten” frequency rank
#4,877
“ermitteln” frequency rank
44191
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erbitten ermitteln
Definition jemanden um etwas dringend bitten, dringend um etwas nachsuchen durch Nachforschung etwas herausfinden

Where the eye mixes erbitten and ermitteln

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
erbitten
9 ch
ermitteln

Visual trap between erbitten and ermitteln

A purely visual mix-up. erbitten ([ɛɐ̯ˈbɪtn̩]) and ermitteln ([ɛɐ̯ˈmɪtl̩n]) 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 44191, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erbitten is recorded at frequency rank #39,314, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈbɪtn̩]. ermitteln is at rank #4,877, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈmɪtl̩n].

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 44191, this pair ranks #1,394,072 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erbitten vs ermitteln

Shared letters: einrt. Private to "erbitten": b. Private to "ermitteln": lm.

"erbitten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "ermitteln" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erbittenebritten · erbbitten · erbiten · erbitetn · erbittenn · erbittne · erbtiten · eribtten
  • ermittelnemritteln · erimtteln · ermiteln · ermitetln · ermittelln · ermittelnn · ermittenl · ermittlen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erbitten" and "ermitteln" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈbɪtn̩] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈmɪtl̩n]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "erbitten" vs "ermitteln" - which ranks higher?
"ermitteln" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,877 in our German list, against #39,314 for "erbitten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "erbitten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ermitteln" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,394,072 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erbitten" and "ermitteln" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erbeuten vs erbitten". 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 #1,394,072 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