ErlöservserlöstWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Erlöser is a noun, erlöst is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Erlöser” is a noun and “erlöst” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,325
“Erlöser” frequency rank
#21,590
“erlöst” frequency rank
45915
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Erlöser erlöst
Definition (männliche^☆) Person, die jemanden von etwas befreit/erlöst Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erlösen

Where the eye mixes Erlöser and erlöst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Erlöser runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against erlöst's 6 (VCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
Erlöser
6 ch
erlöst

Look-alike desk: Erlöser vs erlöst

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Erlöser is [ɛɐ̯ˈløːzɐ] while erlöst is [ɛɐ̯ˈløːst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45915, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Erlöser is recorded at frequency rank #24,325, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈløːzɐ]. erlöst is at rank #21,590, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈløːst].

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 45915, this pair ranks #1,336,830 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Erlöser vs erlöst

Shared letters: elrsö. Private to "Erlöser": -. Private to "erlöst": t.

"Erlöser" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "erlöst" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Erlöser" for "erlöst" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Erlöser" is a noun and "erlöst" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Erlöser" or "erlöst" show up more?
"erlöst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,590 in our German list, against #24,325 for "Erlöser". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Erlöser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erlöst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,336,830 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Erlöser" and "erlöst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erbost vs erlöst". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,336,830 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