erhebenvsErhebungWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: erheben is a verb, Erhebung is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“erheben” is a verb and “Erhebung” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,077
“erheben” frequency rank
#5,165
“Erhebung” frequency rank
10242
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erheben Erhebung
Definition jemanden oder etwas (physisch oder gesellschaftlich) in eine höhere Position bringen kleiner Hügel

Where the eye mixes erheben and Erhebung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. erheben runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against Erhebung's 8 (VCCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
erheben
8 ch
Erhebung

Why the eye confuses erheben with Erhebung

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erheben is [ɛɐ̯ˈheːbn̩] while Erhebung is [ɛɐ̯ˈheːbʊŋ]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10242, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erheben is recorded at frequency rank #5,077, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈheːbn̩]. Erhebung is at rank #5,165, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈheːbʊŋ].

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 10242, this pair ranks #1,976,080 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erheben vs Erhebung

Shared letters: behnr. Private to "erheben": -. Private to "Erhebung": gu.

"erheben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "Erhebung" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erheben ← ehreben · erehben · erhbeen · erhebben · erhebenn · erhebne · erheebn · erhheben
  • Erhebung ← ehrebung · erehbung · erhbeung · erhebbung · erhebnug · erhebugn · erhebungg · erhebunng

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "erheben" for "Erhebung" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "erheben" is a verb and "Erhebung" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "erheben" or "Erhebung"?
"erheben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,077 in our German list, against #5,165 for "Erhebung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "erheben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Erhebung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,976,080 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erheben" and "Erhebung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erhabene vs erheben". 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 #1,976,080 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