erwiesvserwiesenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#9,017
“erwies” frequency rank
#6,787
“erwiesen” frequency rank
15804
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erwies erwiesen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs erweisen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs erweisen

Where the eye mixes erwies and erwiesen

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

6 ch
erwies
8 ch
erwiesen

Visual trap between erwies and erwiesen

A purely visual mix-up. erwies ([ɛɐ̯ˈviːs]) and erwiesen ([ɛɐ̯ˈviːzn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “erwies” sits inside “erwiesen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15804, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erwies is recorded at frequency rank #9,017, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈviːs]. erwiesen is at rank #6,787, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈviːzn̩].

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 15804, this pair ranks #1,941,006 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of erwies vs erwiesen

Shared letters: eirsw. Private to "erwies": -. Private to "erwiesen": n.

"erwies" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC  ·  "erwiesen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erwies ← eriwes · errwies · erweis · erwiess · erwise · erwwies · ewries · rewies
  • erwiesen ← eriwesen · errwiesen · erwieesn · erwiesenn · erwiesne · erwiessen · erwiseen · erwwiesen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "erwies" for "erwiesen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɛɐ̯ˈviːs] versus [ɛɐ̯ˈviːzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "erwies" vs "erwiesen" - which ranks higher?
"erwiesen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,787 in our German list, against #9,017 for "erwies". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "erwies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "erwiesen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,941,006 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "erwies" and "erwiesen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ernie vs erwies". 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 #1,941,006 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