erweisenvserweistWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,272
“erweisen” frequency rank
#11,227
“erweist” frequency rank
21499
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erweisen erweist
Definition einen Nachweis erbringen 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs erweisen

Where the eye mixes erweisen and erweist

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

8 ch
erweisen
7 ch
erweist

Visual trap between erweisen and erweist

A purely visual mix-up. erweisen ([ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯zn̩]) and erweist ([ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯st]) 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 21499, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erweisen is recorded at frequency rank #10,272, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯zn̩]. erweist is at rank #11,227, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯st].

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 21499, this pair ranks #1,885,564 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erweisen vs erweist

Shared letters: eirsw. Private to "erweisen": n. Private to "erweist": t.

"erweisen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC  ·  "erweist" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erweisenerewisen · errweisen · erweiesn · erweisenn · erweisne · erweissen · erwesien · erwweisen
  • erweisterewist · errweist · erweisst · erweistt · erweits · erwesit · erwiest · erwweist

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "erweisen" for "erweist" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯zn̩] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯st]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "erweisen" or "erweist"?
"erweisen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,272 in our German list, against #11,227 for "erweist". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "erweisen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erweist" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,885,564 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erweisen" and "erweist" 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 #1,885,564 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