erlauben

[ɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯bn̩]

/[ɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯bn̩]/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“erlauben” has 11 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #3,575. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,575
frequency rank, German
4,632
“E” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
13
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - jemandem die Zustimmung oder die Möglichkeit geben

Corpus desk

Index DE-erlauben · erlauben · German

erlauben · rank #3,575 · 11 variants · 13 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,575
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 13 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,632
  • PHOTO-FINISH ergänzt

Nearest frequency peer: ergänzt (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „erlauben“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „erlauben“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

erlauben vs erlaubt
75% similar
erlauben vs erleben
75% similar
erlauben vs erlaubte
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for erlauben
PropertyValue
Headworderlauben
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯bn̩]
Letters8
Frequency rank#3,575
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs13
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „erlauben“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.erlaubenliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „ergänzt“ (#3,574), „ersatz“ (#3,576), „Dichter“ (#3,573). Unter 4,632 „E“-Lemmata liegt „erlauben“ bei #3,575. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around erlauben (IPA [ɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯bn̩]), averb. Corpus frequency is #3,575 among 4,632 “E” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for erlauben, with forms such as "elrauben", "eraluben", and "erlabuen". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 13 confusable-pair relationships, "erlaubt", "erleben", "erlaubte", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is erlauben, spelled E-R-L-A-U-B-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    jemandem die Zustimmung oder die Möglichkeit geben
  2. 2
    etwas tun, das gegen eine Regel oder Konvention verstößt
  3. 3
    etwas tun können, weil man über die nötigen Mittel verfügt

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how erlauben appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Ich erlaube dir heute, länger wach zu bleiben.
  2. „Zum Glück erlaubte der von allem Antiken begeisterte Kirchenfürst sehr bald, dass Abschriften hergestellt wurden.“

Synonyms

zulassengestattengenehmigenherausnehmenleisten

This word in other languages

allow(English)permitir(Español)permettre(Français)permitir(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • elrauben
  • eraluben
  • erlabuen
  • erlaubben
  • erlaubenn
  • erlaubne
  • erlauebn
  • erllauben
  • erluaben
  • errlauben
  • relauben

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of erlauben - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

elrauben2eraluben2erlabuen2erlaubben1erlaubenn1erlaubne2erlauebn2erllauben1
Edit distance from "erlauben"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "erlauben"?
"erlauben" is spelled E-R-L-A-U-B-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯bn̩].
What does "erlauben" mean?
As a verb, "erlauben" means: jemandem die Zustimmung oder die Möglichkeit geben
What words are commonly confused with "erlauben"?
"erlauben" is commonly confused with "erlaubt", "erleben", "erlaubte". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "erlauben"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "erlauben" is [ɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯bn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "erlauben" come from?
"erlauben" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "erlauben", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Gebrauch#3,583geringer#3,587Haushalt#3,589Kindheit#3,595

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

ergänzt11 variantsDichter11 variantsBischof11 variantsbedroht11 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list