erhöhevserhöhtenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#30,534
“erhöhe” frequency rank
#6,786
“erhöhten” frequency rank
37320
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erhöhe erhöhten
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erhöhen Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erhöht

Where the eye mixes erhöhe and erhöhten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. erhöhe runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against erhöhten's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
erhöhe
8 ch
erhöhten

Look-alike desk: erhöhe vs erhöhten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erhöhe is [ɛɐ̯ˈhøːə] while erhöhten is [ɛɐ̯ˈhøːtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 37320, 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]. erhöhten is at rank #6,786, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhøːtn̩].

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 37320, this pair ranks #1,593,281 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erhöhe vs erhöhten

Shared letters: ehrö. Private to "erhöhe": -. Private to "erhöhten": nt.

"erhöhe" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "erhöhten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "erhöhe" for "erhöhten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "erhöhe" is a verb and "erhöhten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "erhöhe" or "erhöhten"?
"erhöhten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,786 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 "erhöhten" 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 "erhöhten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,593,281 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erhöhe" and "erhöhten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erhebe vs erhöhe". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,593,281 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