erheblichvserheblicheConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,436
“erheblich” frequency rank
#5,359
“erhebliche” frequency rank
8795
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erheblich erhebliche
Definition beträchtlich, ins Gewicht fallend, wichtig, ernst Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs erheblich

Where the eye mixes erheblich and erhebliche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. erheblich runs 9 letters (VCCVCCVCC) against erhebliche's 10 (VCCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
erheblich
10 ch
erhebliche

Why the eye confuses erheblich with erhebliche

A purely visual mix-up. erheblich ([ɛɐ̯ˈheːplɪç]) and erhebliche ([ɛɐ̯ˈheːplɪçə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “erheblich” sits inside “erhebliche”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8795, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erheblich is recorded at frequency rank #3,436, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈheːplɪç]. erhebliche is at rank #5,359, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈheːplɪçə].

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 8795, this pair ranks #1,982,796 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erheblich vs erhebliche

Shared letters: bcehilr. Private to "erheblich": -. Private to "erhebliche": -.

"erheblich" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC  ·  "erhebliche" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erheblich ← ehreblich · erehblich · erhbelich · erhebblich · erhebilch · erheblcih · erheblicch · erheblichh
  • erhebliche ← ehrebliche · erehbliche · erhbeliche · erhebbliche · erhebilche · erheblcihe · erheblicche · erhebliceh

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "erheblich" and "erhebliche" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈheːplɪç] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈheːplɪçə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "erheblich" or "erhebliche"?
"erheblich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,436 in our German list, against #5,359 for "erhebliche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "erheblich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erhebliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,982,796 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erheblich" and "erhebliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erblich vs erheblich". 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 #1,982,796 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