erwerben
[ɛɐ̯ˈvɛʁbn̩]
The verdict
“erwerben” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #5,941 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #5,941
- frequency rank, German
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - etwas durch eigene Arbeit verdienen
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | erwerben |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ɛɐ̯ˈvɛʁbn̩] |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #5,941 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “erwerben” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for erwerben is 8 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ɛɐ̯ˈvɛʁbn̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #5,941 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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
- 1etwas durch eigene Arbeit verdienen
- 2etwas gegen Bezahlung in Besitz nehmen; etwas kaufen
- 3sich Wissen oder Fähigkeiten durch Lernen aneignen
- 4sich ein bestimmtes Ansehen oder Vertrauen aneignen
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.
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"?
What does "erwerben" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "erwerben"?
How do you pronounce "erwerben"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “erwerben”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is E-R-W-E-R-B-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ɛɐ̯ˈvɛʁbn̩] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Erwerbs” - see the side-by-side comparison. erwerben vs Erwerbs
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.