ergehtvserhöhtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ergeht is a verb, erhöht is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ergeht” is a verb and “erhöht” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,324
“ergeht” frequency rank
#2,145
“erhöht” frequency rank
24469
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ergeht erhöht
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs ergehen über einem bestimmten Niveau/Wert befindlich

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ergeht and erhöht apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
ergeht
6 ch
erhöht

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ergeht is [ɛɐ̯ˈɡeːt] while erhöht is [ɛɐ̯ˈhøːt]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24469, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ergeht is recorded at frequency rank #22,324, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈɡeːt]. erhöht is at rank #2,145, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhøːt].

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 24469, this pair ranks #1,847,177 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ergeht vs erhöht

Shared letters: ehrt. Private to "ergeht": g. Private to "erhöht": ö.

"ergeht" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC  ·  "erhöht" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ergehtegreht · ereght · ergehht · ergehtt · ergeth · erggeht · erghet · errgeht

Frequency comparison

ergeht#22,324
erhöht#2,145

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ergeht" and "erhöht" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ergeht" is a verb and "erhöht" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ergeht" or "erhöht"?
"erhöht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,145 in our German list, against #22,324 for "ergeht". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ergeht vs erhöht

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “ergeht”; for an adjective, it's “erhöht”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ergeht” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list