erlebtevserlegtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: erlebte is a adjective, erlegt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“erlebte” is an adjective and “erlegt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,040
“erlebte” frequency rank
#30,537
“erlegt” frequency rank
37577
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erlebte erlegt
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erlebt 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erlegen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set erlebte and erlegt apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
erlebte
6 ch
erlegt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

erlebte and erlegt form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37577, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erlebte is recorded at frequency rank #7,040, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈleːptə]. 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 37577, this pair ranks #1,586,551 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

erlebte#7,040
erlegt#30,537

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erlebte" and "erlegt" be used interchangeably?
No, "erlebte" and "erlegt" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering erlebte vs erlegt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “erlebte”; for a verb, it's “erlegt”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “erlebte” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list