erblichvserheblichTell them apart

Which to use

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

#41,142
“erblich” frequency rank
#3,436
“erheblich” frequency rank
44578
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erblich erheblich
Definition genetisch von Eltern auf Nachkommen übertragbar beträchtlich, ins Gewicht fallend, wichtig, ernst

Where the eye mixes erblich and erheblich

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

7 ch
erblich
9 ch
erheblich

Look-alike desk: erblich vs erheblich

A purely visual mix-up. erblich ([ˈɛʁplɪç]) and erheblich ([ɛɐ̯ˈheːplɪç]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44578, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erblich is recorded at frequency rank #41,142, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɛʁplɪç]. erheblich is at rank #3,436, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈheːplɪç].

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 44578, this pair ranks #1,381,646 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erblich vs erheblich

Shared letters: bcehilr. Private to "erblich": -. Private to "erheblich": -.

"erblich" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCC  ·  "erheblich" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erblich ← ebrlich · erbblich · erbilch · erblcih · erblicch · erblichh · erblihc · erbllich
  • erheblich ← ehreblich · erehblich · erhbelich · erhebblich · erhebilch · erheblcih · erheblicch · erheblichh

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "erblich" and "erheblich" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɛʁplɪç] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈheːplɪç]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "erblich" or "erheblich" show up more?
"erheblich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,436 in our German list, against #41,142 for "erblich". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "erblich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erheblich" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,381,646 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erblich" and "erheblich" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erblich vs erblickt". 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 #1,381,646 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