Which to use
“erhielt” and “erhielten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,766
- “erhielt” frequency rank
- #3,955
- “erhielten” frequency rank
- 5721
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erhielt | erhielten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs erhalten | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs erhalten |
Where the eye mixes erhielt and erhielten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erhielt runs 7 letters (VCCVVCC) against erhielten's 9 (VCCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses erhielt with erhielten
A purely visual mix-up. erhielt ([ɛɐ̯ˈhiːlt]) and erhielten ([ɛɐ̯ˈhiːltn̩]) 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) - “erhielt” sits inside “erhielten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5721, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erhielt is recorded at frequency rank #1,766, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhiːlt]. erhielten is at rank #3,955, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhiːltn̩].
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 5721, this pair ranks #1,993,937 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erhielt vs erhielten
Shared letters: ehilrt. Private to "erhielt": -. Private to "erhielten": n.
"erhielt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC · "erhielten" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erhielt" and "erhielten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "erhielt" vs "erhielten" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "erhielt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erhielten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,993,937 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erhielt" and "erhielten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erhielt vs erliegt". 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 #1,993,937 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.