Which to use
“Erbse” is a noun and “erste” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,614
- “Erbse” frequency rank
- #250
- “erste” frequency rank
- 46864
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Erbse | erste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Same einer Hülsenfrucht | (zeitlich oder örtlich oder in einer anderen Reihenfolge) an vorderster Stelle sich befindend, dem zweiten vorangehend |
Where the eye mixes Erbse and erste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Erbse vs erste
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Erbse is [ˈɛʁpsə] while erste is [ˈeːɐ̯stə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46864, 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]. erste is at rank #250, tagged as anum, pronounced [ˈeːɐ̯stə].
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 46864, this pair ranks #1,304,305 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Erbse vs erste
Shared letters: ers. Private to "Erbse": b. Private to "erste": t.
"Erbse" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV · "erste" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Erbse" for "erste" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Erbse" or "erste" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Erbse" and "erste" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Erbse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,304,305 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Erbse" and "erste" 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 #1,304,305 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.