erhältvserhörtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,548
“erhält” frequency rank
#35,748
“erhört” frequency rank
37296
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erhält erhört
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erhalten 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erhören

Where the eye mixes erhält and erhört

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. erhält and erhört follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
erhält
6 ch
erhört

Visual trap between erhält and erhört

A purely visual mix-up. erhält ([ɛɐ̯ˈhɛlt]) and erhört ([ɛɐ̯ˈhøːɐ̯t]) 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 37296, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erhält is recorded at frequency rank #1,548, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhɛlt]. erhört is at rank #35,748, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhøːɐ̯t].

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 37296, this pair ranks #1,593,868 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erhält vs erhört

Shared letters: ehrt. Private to "erhält": lä. Private to "erhört": ö.

"erhält" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC  ·  "erhört" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erhält" and "erhört" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈhɛlt] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈhøːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "erhält" or "erhört" show up more?
"erhält" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,548 in our German list, against #35,748 for "erhört". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "erhält" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erhört" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,593,868 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erhält" and "erhört" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erbost vs erhört". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,593,868 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