erhöhevserholtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“erhöhe” and “erholt” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#30,534
“erhöhe” frequency rank
#10,467
“erholt” frequency rank
41001
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erhöhe erholt
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erhöhen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erholen

Where the eye mixes erhöhe and erholt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. erhöhe (VCCVCV) and erholt (VCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
erhöhe
6 ch
erholt

Why the eye confuses erhöhe with erholt

A purely visual mix-up. erhöhe ([ɛɐ̯ˈhøːə]) and erholt ([ɛɐ̯ˈhoːlt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41001, 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]. erholt is at rank #10,467, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈhoːlt].

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 41001, this pair ranks #1,492,139 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erhöhe vs erholt

Shared letters: ehr. Private to "erhöhe": ö. Private to "erholt": lot.

"erhöhe" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "erholt" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erholt ← ehrolt · erhholt · erhlot · erhollt · erholtt · erhotl · erohlt · errholt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "erhöhe" and "erholt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈhøːə] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈhoːlt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "erhöhe" or "erholt" show up more?
"erholt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,467 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.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erhöhe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erholt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,492,139 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erhöhe" and "erholt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erhebe vs erhöhe". 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 #1,492,139 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