Which to use
“erlaubten” is an adjective and “erläutern” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,408
- “erlaubten” frequency rank
- #10,075
- “erläutern” frequency rank
- 26483
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erlaubten | erläutern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erlaubt | etwas lehrend umschreiben |
Where the eye mixes erlaubten and erläutern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erlaubten (VCCVVCCVC) and erläutern (VCCVVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: erlaubten vs erläutern
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erlaubten is [ɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯ptn̩] while erläutern is [ɛɐ̯ˈlɔɪ̯tɐn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26483, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erlaubten is recorded at frequency rank #16,408, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯ptn̩]. erläutern is at rank #10,075, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈlɔɪ̯tɐn].
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 26483, this pair ranks #1,817,345 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erlaubten vs erläutern
Shared letters: elnrtu. Private to "erlaubten": ab. Private to "erläutern": ä.
"erlaubten" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCCVC · "erläutern" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- erlaubten ← elraubten · eralubten · erlabuten · erlaubbten · erlaubetn · erlaubtenn · erlaubtne · erlaubtten
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erlaubten" and "erläutern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "erlaubten" or "erläutern" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "erlaubten" and "erläutern" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "erlaubten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erläutern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,817,345 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erlaubten" and "erläutern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erläutern vs erläuterten". 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 #1,817,345 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.