Which to use
“erproben” is a verb and “erprobte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,079
- “erproben” frequency rank
- #40,513
- “erprobte” frequency rank
- 74592
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erproben | erprobte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | testen, ob etwas tatsächlich so funktioniert, wie es funktionieren soll | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs erprobt |
Where the eye mixes erproben and erprobte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses erproben with erprobte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: erproben is [ɛɐ̯ˈpʁoːbn̩] while erprobte is [ɛɐ̯ˈpʁoːptə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74592, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erproben is recorded at frequency rank #34,079, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈpʁoːbn̩]. erprobte is at rank #40,513, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈpʁoːptə].
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 74592, this pair ranks #329,427 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of erproben vs erprobte
Shared letters: beopr. Private to "erproben": n. Private to "erprobte": t.
"erproben" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC · "erprobte" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erproben" for "erprobte" ever safe?
Frequency check: "erproben" vs "erprobte" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erproben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erprobte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #329,427 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erproben" and "erprobte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erfroren vs erproben". 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 #329,427 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.