Which to use
“erhalte” is a verb and “erhöhte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,268
- “erhalte” frequency rank
- #4,875
- “erhöhte” frequency rank
- 15143
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erhalte | erhöhte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erhalten | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erhöht |
Where the eye mixes erhalte and erhöhte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. erhalte and erhöhte follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses erhalte with erhöhte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erhalte is [ɛɐ̯ˈhaltə] while erhöhte is [ɛɐ̯ˈhøːtə]. 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 15143, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erhalte is recorded at frequency rank #10,268, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhaltə]. erhöhte is at rank #4,875, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhøːtə].
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 15143, this pair ranks #1,946,064 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erhalte vs erhöhte
Shared letters: ehrt. Private to "erhalte": al. Private to "erhöhte": ö.
"erhalte" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "erhöhte" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- erhalte ← ehralte · erahlte · erhalet · erhallte · erhaltte · erhatle · erhhalte · erhlate
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erhalte" for "erhöhte" ever safe?
Which is more common, "erhalte" or "erhöhte"?
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 "erhalte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erhöhte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,946,064 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erhalte" and "erhöhte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erhalte vs erhärtet". 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 #1,946,064 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.