ergebevserlebeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#29,110
“ergebe” frequency rank
#13,352
“erlebe” frequency rank
42462
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ergebe erlebe
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs ergeben 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erleben

Where the eye mixes ergebe and erlebe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. ergebe and erlebe follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
ergebe
6 ch
erlebe

Visual trap between ergebe and erlebe

A purely visual mix-up. ergebe ([ɛɐ̯ˈɡeːbə]) and erlebe ([ɛɐ̯ˈleːbə]) 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 a single letter - g in “ergebe” becomes l in “erlebe”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42462, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ergebe is recorded at frequency rank #29,110, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈɡeːbə]. erlebe is at rank #13,352, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈleːbə].

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 42462, this pair ranks #1,448,554 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ergebe vs erlebe

Shared letters: ber. Private to "ergebe": g. Private to "erlebe": l.

"ergebe" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "erlebe" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ergebeegrebe · eregbe · ergbee · ergebbe · ergeeb · erggebe · errgebe · regebe
  • erlebeelrebe · erelbe · erlbee · erlebbe · erleeb · erllebe · errlebe · relebe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ergebe" and "erlebe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈɡeːbə] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈleːbə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "ergebe" or "erlebe" show up more?
"erlebe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,352 in our German list, against #29,110 for "ergebe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ergebe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erlebe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,448,554 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ergebe" and "erlebe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ergebe vs erhebe". 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 #1,448,554 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