Which to use
“erlebten” is an adjective and “erleiden” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,556
- “erlebten” frequency rank
- #15,345
- “erleiden” frequency rank
- 29901
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erlebten | erleiden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erlebt | etwas körperlich oder seelisch Unangenehmes erleben; eine unangenehme Erfahrung machen |
Where the eye mixes erlebten and erleiden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. erlebten (VCCVCCVC) and erleiden (VCCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: erlebten vs erleiden
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erlebten is [ɛɐ̯ˈleːptn̩] while erleiden is [ɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯dn̩]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29901, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erlebten is recorded at frequency rank #14,556, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈleːptn̩]. erleiden is at rank #15,345, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯dn̩].
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 29901, this pair ranks #1,758,117 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erlebten vs erleiden
Shared letters: elnr. Private to "erlebten": bt. Private to "erleiden": di.
"erlebten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "erleiden" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erlebten" for "erleiden" ever safe?
Which is more common, "erlebten" or "erleiden"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "erlebten" and "erleiden" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "erlebten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erleiden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,758,117 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erlebten" and "erleiden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erlebten vs erregten". 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 #1,758,117 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.