ErbschaftvserschafftWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Erbschaft is a noun, erschafft is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Erbschaft” is a noun and “erschafft” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,589
“Erbschaft” frequency rank
#33,029
“erschafft” frequency rank
54618
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Erbschaft erschafft
Definition gesamter Besitz einer verstorbenen Person, der im Erbfall an die Erben übergehen kann 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erschaffen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Erbschaft and erschafft apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
Erbschaft
9 ch
erschafft

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Erbschaft is [ˈɛʁpʃaft] while erschafft is [ɛɐ̯ˈʃaft]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 5 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54618, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Erbschaft is recorded at frequency rank #21,589, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛʁpʃaft]. erschafft is at rank #33,029, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʃaft].

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 54618, this pair ranks #1,011,824 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Erbschaft vs erschafft

Shared letters: acefhrst. Private to "Erbschaft": b. Private to "erschafft": -.

"Erbschaft" · 9 letters · shape VCCCCCVCC  ·  "erschafft" · 9 letters · shape VCCCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Erbschaftebrschaft · erbbschaft · erbcshaft · erbscahft · erbscchaft · erbschafft · erbschaftt · erbschatf
  • erschafftercshafft · errschafft · erscahfft · erscchafft · erschafftt · erschaft · erschaftf · erschfaft

Frequency comparison

Erbschaft#21,589
erschafft#33,029

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Erbschaft" and "erschafft" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Erbschaft" is a noun and "erschafft" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Erbschaft" or "erschafft"?
"Erbschaft" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,589 in our German list, against #33,029 for "erschafft". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Erbschaft vs erschafft

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Erbschaft”; for a verb, it's “erschafft”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Erbschaft” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list