ErbsevsErsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#46,614
“Erbse” frequency rank
#22,708
“Ers” frequency rank
69322
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Erbse Ers
Definition Same einer Hülsenfrucht Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Er

Where the eye mixes Erbse and Ers

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Erbse runs 5 letters (VCCCV) against Ers's 3 (VCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Erbse
3 ch
Ers

Visual trap between Erbse and Ers

A purely visual mix-up. Erbse ([ˈɛʁpsə]) and Ers ([eːɐ̯s]) 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 69322, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Erbse is recorded at frequency rank #46,614, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛʁpsə]. Ers is at rank #22,708, tagged as anoun, pronounced [eːɐ̯s].

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 69322, this pair ranks #480,117 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Erbse vs Ers

Shared letters: ers. Private to "Erbse": b. Private to "Ers": -.

"Erbse" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV  ·  "Ers" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Erbse ← ebrse · erbbse · erbsse · errbse · ersbe · rebse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Erbse" and "Ers" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɛʁpsə] versus [eːɐ̯s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Erbse" or "Ers" show up more?
"Ers" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,708 in our German list, against #46,614 for "Erbse". 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 "Erbse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ers" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #480,117 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Erbse" and "Ers" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Erbse vs Erle". 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 #480,117 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