Which to use
“ergehen” and “erleben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,277
- “ergehen” frequency rank
- #1,878
- “erleben” frequency rank
- 19155
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ergehen | erleben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | offiziell ausgestellt/festgestellt/zugestellt werden | eine Erfahrung machen, bei etwas dabei sein |
Where the eye mixes ergehen and erleben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. ergehen and erleben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between ergehen and erleben
A purely visual mix-up. ergehen ([ɛɐ̯ˈɡeːən]) and erleben ([ɛɐ̯ˈleːbn̩]) 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 19155, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ergehen is recorded at frequency rank #17,277, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈɡeːən]. erleben is at rank #1,878, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈleːbn̩].
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 19155, this pair ranks #1,911,291 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ergehen vs erleben
Shared letters: enr. Private to "ergehen": gh. Private to "erleben": bl.
"ergehen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "erleben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ergehen" for "erleben" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "ergehen" or "erleben" show up more?
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 "ergehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erleben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,911,291 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ergehen" and "erleben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ergehen vs erwehren". 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 #1,911,291 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.