Which to use
“erlebten” is an adjective and “erlernen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,556
- “erlebten” frequency rank
- #10,645
- “erlernen” frequency rank
- 25201
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erlebten | erlernen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erlebt | etwas begreifen und üben (lernen), meist über längere Zeit hinweg und mit dem Ziel, es zu können/beherrschen |
Where the eye mixes erlebten and erlernen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. erlebten and erlernen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: erlebten vs erlernen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erlebten is [ɛɐ̯ˈleːptn̩] while erlernen is [ɛɐ̯ˈlɛʁnən]. 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 25201, 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]. erlernen is at rank #10,645, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈlɛʁnən].
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 25201, this pair ranks #1,836,669 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erlebten vs erlernen
Shared letters: elnr. Private to "erlebten": bt. Private to "erlernen": -.
"erlebten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "erlernen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erlebten" for "erlernen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "erlebten" or "erlernen" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "erlebten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erlernen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,836,669 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erlebten" and "erlernen" 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 #1,836,669 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.