erlebevsErlöseWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: erlebe is a verb, Erlöse is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“erlebe” is a verb and “Erlöse” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,352
“erlebe” frequency rank
#20,574
“Erlöse” frequency rank
33926
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erlebe Erlöse
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erleben Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Erlös

Where the eye mixes erlebe and Erlöse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. erlebe and Erlöse follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
erlebe
6 ch
Erlöse

Look-alike desk: erlebe vs Erlöse

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erlebe is [ɛɐ̯ˈleːbə] while Erlöse is [ɛɐ̯ˈløːzə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33926, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erlebe is recorded at frequency rank #13,352, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈleːbə]. Erlöse is at rank #20,574, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈløːzə].

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 33926, this pair ranks #1,674,947 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erlebe vs Erlöse

Shared letters: elr. Private to "erlebe": b. Private to "Erlöse": sö.

"erlebe" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "Erlöse" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erlebe ← elrebe · erelbe · erlbee · erlebbe · erleeb · erllebe · errlebe · relebe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erlebe" and "Erlöse" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "erlebe" is a verb and "Erlöse" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "erlebe" or "Erlöse" show up more?
"erlebe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,352 in our German list, against #20,574 for "Erlöse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "erlebe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Erlöse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,674,947 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erlebe" and "Erlöse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Erle vs Erlöse". 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 #1,674,947 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