Which to use
“erleben” is a verb and “erlebte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,878
- “erleben” frequency rank
- #7,040
- “erlebte” frequency rank
- 8918
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erleben | erlebte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Erfahrung machen, bei etwas dabei sein | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erlebt |
Where the eye mixes erleben and erlebte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: erleben vs erlebte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erleben is [ɛɐ̯ˈleːbn̩] while erlebte is [ɛɐ̯ˈleːptə]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8918, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erleben is recorded at frequency rank #1,878, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈleːbn̩]. erlebte is at rank #7,040, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈleːptə].
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 8918, this pair ranks #1,982,234 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erleben vs erlebte
Shared letters: belr. Private to "erleben": n. Private to "erlebte": t.
"erleben" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "erlebte" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erleben" and "erlebte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "erleben" or "erlebte"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erleben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erlebte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,982,234 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erleben" and "erlebte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Elben vs erleben". 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 #1,982,234 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.