Which to use
“Erle” is a noun and “erlegt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,856
- “Erle” frequency rank
- #30,537
- “erlegt” frequency rank
- 79393
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Erle | erlegt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | an feuchten Stellen wachsender Laubbaum der Gattung Alnus mit eingeschlechtigen Blüten in Kätzchen und rundlichen, verholzenden Fruchtzapfen | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erlegen |
Where the eye mixes Erle and erlegt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Erle runs 4 letters (VCCV) against erlegt's 6 (VCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Erle vs erlegt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Erle is [ˈɛʁlə] while erlegt is [ɛɐ̯ˈleːkt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Erle” sits inside “erlegt”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79393, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Erle is recorded at frequency rank #48,856, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛʁlə]. erlegt is at rank #30,537, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈleːkt].
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 79393, this pair ranks #217,380 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Erle vs erlegt
Shared letters: elr. Private to "Erle": -. Private to "erlegt": gt.
"Erle" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "erlegt" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Erle" for "erlegt" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Erle" or "erlegt" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Erle" and "erlegt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Erle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erlegt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #217,380 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Erle" and "erlegt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Erbse vs Erle". 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 #217,380 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.