erliegtvserzieltTell them apart

Which to use

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

#48,118
“erliegt” frequency rank
#3,727
“erzielt” frequency rank
51845
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erliegt erzielt
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erliegen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erzielen

Where the eye mixes erliegt and erzielt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. erliegt and erzielt 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
erzielt

Visual trap between erliegt and erzielt

A purely visual mix-up. erliegt ([ɛɐ̯ˈliːkt]) and erzielt ([ɛɐ̯ˈt͡siːlt]) 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 51845, 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]. erzielt is at rank #3,727, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡siːlt].

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 51845, this pair ranks #1,119,801 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erliegt vs erzielt

Shared letters: eilrt. Private to "erliegt": g. Private to "erzielt": z.

"erliegt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC  ·  "erzielt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erliegtelriegt · erilegt · erleigt · erlieggt · erliegtt · erlietg · erliget · erlliegt
  • erzielterizelt · errzielt · erzeilt · erziellt · erzieltt · erzietl · erzilet · erzzielt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erliegt" and "erzielt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈliːkt] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡siːlt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "erliegt" vs "erzielt" - which ranks higher?
"erzielt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,727 in our German list, against #48,118 for "erliegt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "erliegt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erzielt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,119,801 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erliegt" and "erzielt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erliegt vs erzieht". 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 #1,119,801 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