erwerben

[ɛɐ̯ˈvɛʁbn̩]

/[ɛɐ̯ˈvɛʁbn̩]/ verb

The verdict

“erwerben” has 12 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #5,941. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,941
frequency rank, German
4,632
“E” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
15
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - etwas durch eigene Arbeit verdienen

Corpus desk

Index DE-erwerben · erwerben · German

erwerben · rank #5,941 · 12 variants · 15 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,941
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 15 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,632
  • PHOTO-FINISH erreichten

Nearest frequency peer: erreichten (-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 „erwerben“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „erwerben“ 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).

erwerben vs Erwerbs
63% similar
erwerben vs erworben
88% similar
erwerben vs erwirken
75% similar

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

Key facts for erwerben
PropertyValue
Headworderwerben
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ɛɐ̯ˈvɛʁbn̩]
Letters8
Frequency rank#5,941
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs15
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „erwerben“

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

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „erreichten“ (#5,940), „Felder“ (#5,942), „Entdeckung“ (#5,939). Unter 4,632 „E“-Lemmata liegt „erwerben“ bei #5,941. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around erwerben (IPA [ɛɐ̯ˈvɛʁbn̩]), averb. Corpus frequency is #5,941 among 4,632 “E” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for erwerben, with forms such as "erewrben", "errwerben", and "erwebren". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 15 confusable-pair relationships, "Erwerbs", "erworben", "erwirken", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is erwerben, spelled E-R-W-E-R-B-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    etwas durch eigene Arbeit verdienen
  2. 2
    etwas gegen Bezahlung in Besitz nehmen; etwas kaufen
  3. 3
    sich Wissen oder Fähigkeiten durch Lernen aneignen
  4. 4
    sich ein bestimmtes Ansehen oder Vertrauen aneignen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Sie erwirbt ihren Lebensunterhalt durch die Arbeit als Bäckerin.
  2. Ich erwarb ein neues Haus.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • erewrben
  • errwerben
  • erwebren
  • erwerbben
  • erwerbenn
  • erwerbne
  • erwerebn
  • erwerrben
  • erwreben
  • erwwerben
  • ewrerben
  • rewerben

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of erwerben - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

erewrben2errwerben1erwebren2erwerbben1erwerbenn1erwerbne2erwerebn2erwerrben1
Edit distance from "erwerben"

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 "erwerben"?
"erwerben" is spelled E-R-W-E-R-B-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ɛɐ̯ˈvɛʁbn̩].
What does "erwerben" mean?
As a verb, "erwerben" means: etwas durch eigene Arbeit verdienen
What words are commonly confused with "erwerben"?
"erwerben" is commonly confused with "Erwerbs", "erworben", "erwirken". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "erwerben"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "erwerben" is [ɛɐ̯ˈvɛʁbn̩]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "erwerben" come from?
"erwerben" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "erwerben", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list