Which to use
“erhielten” is a verb and “erzielte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,955
- “erhielten” frequency rank
- #4,117
- “erzielte” frequency rank
- 8072
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erhielten | erzielte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs erhalten | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erzielt |
Where the eye mixes erhielten and erzielte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erhielten runs 9 letters (VCCVVCCVC) against erzielte's 8 (VCCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between erhielten and erzielte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erhielten is [ɛɐ̯ˈhiːltn̩] 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 8072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erhielten is recorded at frequency rank #3,955, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhiːltn̩]. 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 8072, this pair ranks #1,985,739 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erhielten vs erzielte
Shared letters: eilrt. Private to "erhielten": hn. Private to "erzielte": z.
"erhielten" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCCVC · "erzielte" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erhielten" for "erzielte" ever safe?
Frequency check: "erhielten" vs "erzielte" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erhielten" 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 #1,985,739 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erhielten" and "erzielte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erhellen vs erhielten". 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 #1,985,739 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.