erstelltevserteilteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#16,411
“erstellte” frequency rank
#13,815
“erteilte” frequency rank
30226
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erstellte erteilte
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erstellt Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erteilt

Where the eye mixes erstellte and erteilte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erstellte runs 9 letters (VCCCVCCCV) against erteilte's 8 (VCCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
erstellte
8 ch
erteilte

Why the eye confuses erstellte with erteilte

A purely visual mix-up. erstellte ([ɛɐ̯ˈʃtɛltə]) and erteilte ([ɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯ltə]) 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 30226, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erstellte is recorded at frequency rank #16,411, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈʃtɛltə]. erteilte is at rank #13,815, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯ltə].

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 30226, this pair ranks #1,751,984 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erstellte vs erteilte

Shared letters: elrt. Private to "erstellte": s. Private to "erteilte": i.

"erstellte" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCCV  ·  "erteilte" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erstellte ← errstellte · ersetllte · ersstellte · erstellet · erstelltte · erstelte · ersteltle · erstlelte
  • erteilte ← eretilte · errteilte · erteilet · erteillte · erteiltte · erteitle · ertelite · ertielte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "erstellte" and "erteilte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈʃtɛltə] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯ltə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "erstellte" or "erteilte"?
"erteilte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,815 in our German list, against #16,411 for "erstellte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "erstellte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erteilte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,751,984 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erstellte" and "erteilte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "einstellte vs erstellte". 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 #1,751,984 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