DiebevsDiebenConfusable pair

Which to use

“Diebe” and “Dieben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#11,208
“Diebe” frequency rank
#36,880
“Dieben” frequency rank
48088
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Diebe Dieben
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Dieb Dativ Plural des Substantivs Dieb

Where the eye mixes Diebe and Dieben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Diebe
6 ch
Dieben

Look-alike desk: Diebe vs Dieben

A purely visual mix-up. Diebe ([ˈdiːbə]) and Dieben ([ˈdiːbn̩]) 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) - “Diebe” sits inside “Dieben”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48088, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Diebe is recorded at frequency rank #11,208, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈdiːbə]. Dieben is at rank #36,880, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈdiːbn̩].

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 48088, this pair ranks #1,261,253 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Diebe vs Dieben

Shared letters: bdei. Private to "Diebe": -. Private to "Dieben": n.

"Diebe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Dieben" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Diebeddiebe · deibe · dibee · diebbe · dieeb · idebe
  • Diebenddieben · deiben · dibeen · diebben · diebenn · diebne · dieebn · ideben

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Diebe" and "Dieben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈdiːbə] versus [ˈdiːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Diebe" vs "Dieben" - which ranks higher?
"Diebe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,208 in our German list, against #36,880 for "Dieben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Diebe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Dieben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,261,253 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Diebe" and "Dieben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Dieben vs dissen". 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 #1,261,253 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list