erhellenvserhelltWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#43,152
“erhellen” frequency rank
#39,916
“erhellt” frequency rank
83068
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erhellen erhellt
Definition für mehr Licht (Helligkeit) sorgen, etwas heller werden lassen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erhellen

Where the eye mixes erhellen and erhellt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
erhellen
7 ch
erhellt

Look-alike desk: erhellen vs erhellt

A purely visual mix-up. erhellen ([ɛɐ̯ˈhɛlən]) and erhellt ([ɛɐ̯ˈhɛlt]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83068, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erhellen is recorded at frequency rank #43,152, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhɛlən]. erhellt is at rank #39,916, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhɛlt].

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 83068, this pair ranks #146,188 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of erhellen vs erhellt

Shared letters: ehlr. Private to "erhellen": n. Private to "erhellt": t.

"erhellen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "erhellt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erhellenehrellen · erehllen · erheleln · erhelen · erhellenn · erhellne · erhhellen · erhlelen
  • erhelltehrellt · erehllt · erhelltt · erhelt · erheltl · erhhellt · erhlelt · errhellt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "erhellen" and "erhellt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈhɛlən] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈhɛlt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "erhellen" or "erhellt"?
"erhellt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,916 in our German list, against #43,152 for "erhellen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erhellen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erhellt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #146,188 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erhellen" and "erhellt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Eizellen vs erhellen". 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 #146,188 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