ermordenvserworbenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,983
“ermorden” frequency rank
#4,428
“erworben” frequency rank
21411
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ermorden erworben
Definition mit Vorsatz einen Mord begehen, jemanden umbringen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erwerben

Where the eye mixes ermorden and erworben

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

8 ch
ermorden
8 ch
erworben

Visual trap between ermorden and erworben

A purely visual mix-up. ermorden ([ɛɐ̯ˈmɔʁdn̩]) and erworben ([ɛɐ̯ˈvɔʁbn̩]) 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 21411, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ermorden is recorded at frequency rank #16,983, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈmɔʁdn̩]. erworben is at rank #4,428, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvɔʁbn̩].

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 21411, this pair ranks #1,886,585 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ermorden vs erworben

Shared letters: enor. Private to "ermorden": dm. Private to "erworben": bw.

"ermorden" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "erworben" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ermorden ← emrorden · ermmorden · ermodren · ermordden · ermordenn · ermordne · ermoredn · ermorrden
  • erworben ← erowrben · errworben · erwobren · erworbben · erworbenn · erworbne · erworebn · erworrben

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ermorden" and "erworben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈmɔʁdn̩] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈvɔʁbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ermorden" or "erworben"?
"erworben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,428 in our German list, against #16,983 for "ermorden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ermorden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erworben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,886,585 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ermorden" and "erworben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erwarben vs erworben". 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 #1,886,585 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