ergebenvserhabenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,244
“ergeben” frequency rank
#27,276
“erhaben” frequency rank
29520
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ergeben erhaben
Definition bereit, jemandem zu dienen (als Mensch) darüberstehend, unangreifbar; andere weit übertreffend

Where the eye mixes ergeben and erhaben

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

7 ch
ergeben
7 ch
erhaben

Why the eye confuses ergeben with erhaben

A purely visual mix-up. ergeben ([ɛɐ̯ˈɡeːbn̩]) and erhaben ([ˌɛɐ̯ˈhaːbn̩]) 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 29520, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ergeben is recorded at frequency rank #2,244, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈɡeːbn̩]. erhaben is at rank #27,276, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌɛɐ̯ˈhaːbn̩].

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 29520, this pair ranks #1,765,266 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ergeben vs erhaben

Shared letters: benr. Private to "ergeben": g. Private to "erhaben": ah.

"ergeben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "erhaben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ergeben ← egreben · eregben · ergbeen · ergebben · ergebenn · ergebne · ergeebn · erggeben
  • erhaben ← ehraben · erahben · erhabben · erhabenn · erhabne · erhaebn · erhbaen · erhhaben

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ergeben" and "erhaben" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈɡeːbn̩] versus [ˌɛɐ̯ˈhaːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ergeben" or "erhaben"?
"ergeben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,244 in our German list, against #27,276 for "erhaben". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "ergeben" and "erhaben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ergeben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erhaben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,765,266 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ergeben" and "erhaben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erhaben vs erhabenen". 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 #1,765,266 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