GabelnvsGräbernTell them apart

Which to use

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

#45,950
“Gabeln” frequency rank
#23,552
“Gräbern” frequency rank
69502
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gabeln Gräbern
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Gabel Dativ Plural des Substantivs Grab

Where the eye mixes Gabeln and Gräbern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Gabeln
7 ch
Gräbern

Look-alike desk: Gabeln vs Gräbern

A purely visual mix-up. Gabeln ([ˈɡaːbl̩n]) and Gräbern ([ˈɡʁɛːbɐn]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69502, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gabeln is recorded at frequency rank #45,950, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡaːbl̩n]. Gräbern is at rank #23,552, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡʁɛːbɐn].

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 69502, this pair ranks #474,632 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Gabeln vs Gräbern

Shared letters: begn. Private to "Gabeln": al. Private to "Gräbern": .

"Gabeln" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "Gräbern" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gabelnagbeln · gabbeln · gabelln · gabelnn · gabenl · gablen · gaebln · gbaeln

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Gabeln" and "Gräbern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡaːbl̩n] versus [ˈɡʁɛːbɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Gabeln" or "Gräbern"?
"Gräbern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,552 in our German list, against #45,950 for "Gabeln". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Gabeln" and "Gräbern" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gabeln" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gräbern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #474,632 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gabeln" and "Gräbern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gabeln vs gasen". 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 #474,632 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