Which to use
“erteilen” and “erweisen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,897
- “erteilen” frequency rank
- #10,272
- “erweisen” frequency rank
- 20169
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erteilen | erweisen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemandem etwas zukommen lassen | einen Nachweis erbringen |
Where the eye mixes erteilen and erweisen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. erteilen and erweisen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between erteilen and erweisen
A purely visual mix-up. erteilen ([ɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯lən]) and erweisen ([ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯zn̩]) 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 20169, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erteilen is recorded at frequency rank #9,897, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯lən]. erweisen is at rank #10,272, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯zn̩].
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 20169, this pair ranks #1,900,535 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erteilen vs erweisen
Shared letters: einr. Private to "erteilen": lt. Private to "erweisen": sw.
"erteilen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC · "erweisen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "erteilen" and "erweisen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "erteilen" or "erweisen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "erteilen" and "erweisen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "erteilen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erweisen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,900,535 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erteilen" and "erweisen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erwehren vs erweisen". 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 #1,900,535 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.