erhöhevserhöhteConfusable pair

Quick tell: erhöhe is a verb, erhöhte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“erhöhe” is a verb and “erhöhte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,534
“erhöhe” frequency rank
#4,875
“erhöhte” frequency rank
35409
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erhöhe erhöhte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erhöhen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erhöht

Where the eye mixes erhöhe and erhöhte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. erhöhe runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against erhöhte's 7 (VCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
erhöhe
7 ch
erhöhte

Why the eye confuses erhöhe with erhöhte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erhöhe is [ɛɐ̯ˈhøːə] while erhöhte is [ɛɐ̯ˈhøːtə]. 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 35409, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erhöhe is recorded at frequency rank #30,534, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhøːə]. erhöhte is at rank #4,875, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhøːtə].

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 35409, this pair ranks #1,640,720 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erhöhe vs erhöhte

Shared letters: ehrö. Private to "erhöhe": -. Private to "erhöhte": t.

"erhöhe" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "erhöhte" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "erhöhe" and "erhöhte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "erhöhe" is a verb and "erhöhte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "erhöhe" vs "erhöhte" - which ranks higher?
"erhöhte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,875 in our German list, against #30,534 for "erhöhe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "erhöhe" and "erhöhte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erhöhe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erhöhte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,640,720 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erhöhe" and "erhöhte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erhebe vs erhöhe". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,640,720 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