erspieltvserzieltWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,363
“erspielt” frequency rank
#3,727
“erzielt” frequency rank
51090
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erspielt erzielt
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erspielen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erzielen

Where the eye mixes erspielt and erzielt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. erspielt runs 8 letters (VCCCVVCC) against erzielt's 7 (VCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
erspielt
7 ch
erzielt

Visual trap between erspielt and erzielt

A purely visual mix-up. erspielt ([ɛɐ̯ˈʃpiːlt]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51090, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erspielt is recorded at frequency rank #47,363, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʃpiːlt]. 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 51090, this pair ranks #1,148,866 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erspielt vs erzielt

Shared letters: eilrt. Private to "erspielt": ps. Private to "erzielt": z.

"erspielt" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVVCC  ·  "erzielt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erspielterpsielt · errspielt · ersipelt · erspeilt · erspiellt · erspieltt · erspietl · erspilet
  • erzielterizelt · errzielt · erzeilt · erziellt · erzieltt · erzietl · erzilet · erzzielt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "erspielt" and "erzielt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈʃpiːlt] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡siːlt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "erspielt" 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 #47,363 for "erspielt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "erspielt" and "erzielt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erspielt" 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 #1,148,866 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erspielt" and "erzielt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erliegt vs erzielt". 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 #1,148,866 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