ergabvserhobWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,978
“ergab” frequency rank
#12,065
“erhob” frequency rank
17043
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ergab erhob
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs ergeben 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs erheben

Where the eye mixes ergab and erhob

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. ergab and erhob follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
ergab
5 ch
erhob

Look-alike desk: ergab vs erhob

A purely visual mix-up. ergab ([ɛɐ̯ˈɡaːp]) and erhob ([ɛɐ̯ˈhoːp]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17043, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ergab is recorded at frequency rank #4,978, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈɡaːp]. erhob is at rank #12,065, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhoːp].

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 17043, this pair ranks #1,930,841 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ergab vs erhob

Shared letters: ber. Private to "ergab": ag. Private to "erhob": ho.

"ergab" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "erhob" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ergab ← egrab · eragb · ergabb · ergba · erggab · errgab · regab
  • erhob ← ehrob · erhbo · erhhob · erhobb · erohb · errhob · rehob

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ergab" for "erhob" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈɡaːp] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈhoːp]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ergab" vs "erhob" - which ranks higher?
"ergab" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,978 in our German list, against #12,065 for "erhob". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ergab" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erhob" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,930,841 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ergab" and "erhob" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erhebe vs erhob". 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 #1,930,841 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