Which to use
“erhellt” and “erhielt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,916
- “erhellt” frequency rank
- #1,766
- “erhielt” frequency rank
- 41682
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erhellt | erhielt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erhellen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs erhalten |
Where the eye mixes erhellt and erhielt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. erhellt (VCCVCCC) and erhielt (VCCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses erhellt with erhielt
A purely visual mix-up. erhellt ([ɛɐ̯ˈhɛlt]) and erhielt ([ɛɐ̯ˈhiːlt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41682, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erhellt is recorded at frequency rank #39,916, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhɛlt]. erhielt is at rank #1,766, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhiːlt].
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 41682, this pair ranks #1,472,208 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of erhellt vs erhielt
Shared letters: ehlrt. Private to "erhellt": -. Private to "erhielt": i.
"erhellt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC · "erhielt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erhellt" and "erhielt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "erhellt" or "erhielt" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "erhellt" and "erhielt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "erhellt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erhielt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,472,208 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erhellt" and "erhielt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erhellen vs erhellt". 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 #1,472,208 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.