Which to use
“erhielt” is a verb and “erzielte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,766
- “erhielt” frequency rank
- #4,117
- “erzielte” frequency rank
- 5883
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erhielt | erzielte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs erhalten | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erzielt |
Where the eye mixes erhielt and erzielte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. erhielt runs 7 letters (VCCVVCC) against erzielte's 8 (VCCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses erhielt with erzielte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erhielt is [ɛɐ̯ˈhiːlt] while erzielte is [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡siːltə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5883, 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]. erzielte is at rank #4,117, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡siːltə].
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 5883, this pair ranks #1,993,406 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erhielt vs erzielte
Shared letters: eilrt. Private to "erhielt": h. Private to "erzielte": z.
"erhielt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC · "erzielte" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erhielt" and "erzielte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "erhielt" or "erzielte"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erhielt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erzielte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,993,406 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erhielt" and "erzielte" 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 #1,993,406 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.