erliegtvserziehtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#48,118
“erliegt” frequency rank
#39,327
“erzieht” frequency rank
87445
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erliegt erzieht
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erliegen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erziehen

Where the eye mixes erliegt and erzieht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. erliegt and erzieht follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
erliegt
7 ch
erzieht

Visual trap between erliegt and erzieht

A purely visual mix-up. erliegt ([ɛɐ̯ˈliːkt]) and erzieht ([ɛɐ̯ˈt͡siːt]) 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 87445, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erliegt is recorded at frequency rank #48,118, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈliːkt]. erzieht is at rank #39,327, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡siːt].

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 87445, this pair ranks #80,331 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of erliegt vs erzieht

Shared letters: eirt. Private to "erliegt": gl. Private to "erzieht": hz.

"erliegt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC  ·  "erzieht" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erliegtelriegt · erilegt · erleigt · erlieggt · erliegtt · erlietg · erliget · erlliegt
  • erziehterizeht · errzieht · erzeiht · erziehht · erziehtt · erzieth · erzihet · erzzieht

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erliegt" and "erzieht" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈliːkt] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡siːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "erliegt" vs "erzieht" - which ranks higher?
"erzieht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,327 in our German list, against #48,118 for "erliegt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erliegt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erzieht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #80,331 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erliegt" and "erzieht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erlegt 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 #80,331 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