erliegenvserwiesenTell them apart

Which to use

“erliegen” and “erwiesen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#20,235
“erliegen” frequency rank
#6,787
“erwiesen” frequency rank
27022
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erliegen erwiesen
Definition an etwas sterben Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erweisen

Where the eye mixes erliegen and erwiesen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. erliegen and erwiesen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
erliegen
8 ch
erwiesen

Why the eye confuses erliegen with erwiesen

A purely visual mix-up. erliegen ([ɛɐ̯ˈliːɡn̩]) and erwiesen ([ɛɐ̯ˈviːzn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27022, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erliegen is recorded at frequency rank #20,235, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈliːɡn̩]. erwiesen is at rank #6,787, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈviːzn̩].

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 27022, this pair ranks #1,808,564 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erliegen vs erwiesen

Shared letters: einr. Private to "erliegen": gl. Private to "erwiesen": sw.

"erliegen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC  ·  "erwiesen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erliegen ← elriegen · erilegen · erleigen · erlieegn · erliegenn · erlieggen · erliegne · erligeen
  • erwiesen ← eriwesen · errwiesen · erwieesn · erwiesenn · erwiesne · erwiessen · erwiseen · erwwiesen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erliegen" and "erwiesen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈliːɡn̩] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈviːzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "erliegen" or "erwiesen"?
"erwiesen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,787 in our German list, against #20,235 for "erliegen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "erliegen" and "erwiesen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erliegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erwiesen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,808,564 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erliegen" and "erwiesen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erliegen vs erliegt". 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 #1,808,564 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list