Which to use
“blieb” and “bliebe” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #987
- “blieb” frequency rank
- #16,105
- “bliebe” frequency rank
- 17092
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | blieb | bliebe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs bleiben | 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs bleiben |
Where the eye mixes blieb and bliebe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses blieb with bliebe
A purely visual mix-up. blieb ([bliːp]) and bliebe ([ˈbliːbə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “blieb” sits inside “bliebe”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17092, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
blieb is recorded at frequency rank #987, classified as averb, pronounced [bliːp]. bliebe is at rank #16,105, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbliːbə].
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 17092, this pair ranks #1,930,419 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of blieb vs bliebe
Shared letters: beil. Private to "blieb": -. Private to "bliebe": -.
"blieb" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "bliebe" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "blieb" and "bliebe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "blieb" or "bliebe" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "blieb" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bliebe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,930,419 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "blieb" and "bliebe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "begebe vs bliebe". 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 #1,930,419 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.