Which to use
“erleichtern” is a verb and “erleichtert” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,462
- “erleichtern” frequency rank
- #4,876
- “erleichtert” frequency rank
- 12338
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erleichtern | erleichtert |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas leichter machen, für weniger Gewicht sorgen | ein Gefühl der Erleichterung verspürend |
Where the eye mixes erleichtern and erleichtert
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. erleichtern and erleichtert follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVCCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between erleichtern and erleichtert
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erleichtern is [ɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯çtɐn] while erleichtert is [ɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯çtɐt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “erleichtern” becomes t in “erleichtert”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12338, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erleichtern is recorded at frequency rank #7,462, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯çtɐn]. erleichtert is at rank #4,876, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯çtɐt].
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 12338, this pair ranks #1,964,752 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erleichtern vs erleichtert
Shared letters: cehilrt. Private to "erleichtern": n. Private to "erleichtert": -.
"erleichtern" · 11 letters · shape VCCVVCCCVCC · "erleichtert" · 11 letters · shape VCCVVCCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- erleichtern ← elreichtern · erelichtern · erlecihtern · erleicchtern · erleichetrn · erleichhtern · erleichtenr · erleichternn
- erleichtert ← elreichtert · erelichtert · erlecihtert · erleicchtert · erleichetrt · erleichhtert · erleichterrt · erleichtertt
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erleichtern" and "erleichtert" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "erleichtern" or "erleichtert" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erleichtern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erleichtert" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,964,752 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erleichtern" and "erleichtert" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erleichtern vs erleuchten". 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 #1,964,752 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.