Which to use
“erhalten” is a verb and “erzählten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #418
- “erhalten” frequency rank
- #16,694
- “erzählten” frequency rank
- 17112
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erhalten | erzählten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas bekommen, empfangen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erzählt |
Where the eye mixes erhalten and erzählten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erhalten runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against erzählten's 9 (VCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses erhalten with erzählten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erhalten is [ɛɐ̯ˈhaltn̩] while erzählten is [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡sɛːltn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17112, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erhalten is recorded at frequency rank #418, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhaltn̩]. erzählten is at rank #16,694, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡sɛːltn̩].
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 17112, this pair ranks #1,930,257 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erhalten vs erzählten
Shared letters: ehlnrt. Private to "erhalten": a. Private to "erzählten": zä.
"erhalten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "erzählten" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- erhalten ← ehralten · erahlten · erhaletn · erhallten · erhaltenn · erhaltne · erhaltten · erhatlen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erhalten" for "erzählten" ever safe?
Which is more common, "erhalten" or "erzählten"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "erhalten" and "erzählten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "erhalten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erzählten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,930,257 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erhalten" and "erzählten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erhalten 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 #1,930,257 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.