erheblichvserheblichesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,436
“erheblich” frequency rank
#35,747
“erhebliches” frequency rank
39183
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erheblich erhebliches
Definition beträchtlich, ins Gewicht fallend, wichtig, ernst Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erheblich

Where the eye mixes erheblich and erhebliches

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. erheblich runs 9 letters (VCCVCCVCC) against erhebliches's 11 (VCCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
erheblich
11 ch
erhebliches

Why the eye confuses erheblich with erhebliches

A purely visual mix-up. erheblich ([ɛɐ̯ˈheːplɪç]) and erhebliches ([ɛɐ̯ˈheːplɪçəs]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “erheblich” sits inside “erhebliches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39183, 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]. erhebliches is at rank #35,747, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈheːplɪçəs].

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 39183, this pair ranks #1,543,798 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erheblich vs erhebliches

Shared letters: bcehilr. Private to "erheblich": -. Private to "erhebliches": s.

"erheblich" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC  ·  "erhebliches" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erheblich ← ehreblich · erehblich · erhbelich · erhebblich · erhebilch · erheblcih · erheblicch · erheblichh
  • erhebliches ← ehrebliches · erehbliches · erhbeliches · erhebbliches · erhebilches · erheblcihes · erheblicches · erheblicehs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "erheblich" for "erhebliches" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈheːplɪç] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈheːplɪçəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "erheblich" or "erhebliches"?
"erheblich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,436 in our German list, against #35,747 for "erhebliches". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "erheblich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erhebliches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,543,798 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erheblich" and "erhebliches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erheblichem vs erhebliches". 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 #1,543,798 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