gabenvsglaubenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,594
“gaben” frequency rank
#659
“glauben” frequency rank
3253
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gaben glauben
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs geben religiös sein, an einen oder mehrere Götter glauben; in seinem Glauben überzeugt sein

Where the eye mixes gaben and glauben

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

5 ch
gaben
7 ch
glauben

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. gaben ([ˈɡaːbn̩]) and glauben ([ˈɡlaʊ̯bn̩]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3253, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gaben is recorded at frequency rank #2,594, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡaːbn̩]. glauben is at rank #659, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɡlaʊ̯bn̩].

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 3253, this pair ranks #2,000,606 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gaben vs glauben

Shared letters: abegn. Private to "gaben": -. Private to "glauben": lu.

"gaben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "glauben" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gabenagben · gabben · gabenn · gabne · gaebn · gbaen · ggaben
  • glaubengaluben · gglauben · glabuen · glaubben · glaubenn · glaubne · glauebn · gllauben

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gaben" and "glauben" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡaːbn̩] versus [ˈɡlaʊ̯bn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gaben" or "glauben"?
"glauben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #659 in our German list, against #2,594 for "gaben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "gaben" and "glauben". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gaben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "glauben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,000,606 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gaben" and "glauben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gaben vs given". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list