Which to use
“erziehen” and “erzielen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,905
- “erziehen” frequency rank
- #4,195
- “erzielen” frequency rank
- 17100
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erziehen | erzielen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemandem Bildung und Wissen beibringen, jemandes Charakter formen (auf ein Ziel hin) | etwas Anvisiertes (Angestrebtes) erreichen |
Where the eye mixes erziehen and erzielen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erziehen and erzielen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: erziehen vs erzielen
A purely visual mix-up. erziehen ([ɛɐ̯ˈt͡siːən]) and erzielen ([ɛɐ̯ˈt͡siːlən]) 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 a single letter - h in “erziehen” becomes l in “erzielen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17100, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erziehen is recorded at frequency rank #12,905, classified as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡siːən]. erzielen is at rank #4,195, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈt͡siːlən].
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 17100, this pair ranks #1,930,356 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erziehen vs erzielen
Shared letters: einrz. Private to "erziehen": h. Private to "erzielen": l.
"erziehen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC · "erzielen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "erziehen" and "erzielen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "erziehen" or "erzielen" show up more?
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 "erziehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erzielen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,930,356 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erziehen" and "erzielen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erziehen vs erzieht". 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 #1,930,356 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.