Which to use
“erklingen” and “erliegen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,560
- “erklingen” frequency rank
- #20,235
- “erliegen” frequency rank
- 49795
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erklingen | erliegen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | für das menschliche Ohr hörbar werden, oftmals in Form einer melodischen Tonfolge (Klang); Klänge von sich geben | an etwas sterben |
Where the eye mixes erklingen and erliegen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erklingen runs 9 letters (VCCCVCCVC) against erliegen's 8 (VCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses erklingen with erliegen
A purely visual mix-up. erklingen ([ɛɐ̯ˈklɪŋən]) and erliegen ([ɛɐ̯ˈliːɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49795, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erklingen is recorded at frequency rank #29,560, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈklɪŋən]. erliegen is at rank #20,235, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈliːɡn̩].
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 49795, this pair ranks #1,198,128 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of erklingen vs erliegen
Shared letters: egilnr. Private to "erklingen": k. Private to "erliegen": -.
"erklingen" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC · "erliegen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erklingen" and "erliegen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "erklingen" or "erliegen" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "erklingen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erliegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,198,128 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erklingen" and "erliegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erklingen vs Ettlingen". 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 #1,198,128 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.