gebarvsgebärenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#36,346
“gebar” frequency rank
#27,736
“gebären” frequency rank
64082
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gebar gebären
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs gebären ein Kind zur Welt bringen

Where the eye mixes gebar and gebären

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. gebar runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against gebären's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
gebar
7 ch
gebären

Visual trap between gebar and gebären

A purely visual mix-up. gebar ([ɡəˈbaːɐ̯]) and gebären ([ɡəˈbɛːʁən]) 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 64082, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gebar is recorded at frequency rank #36,346, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈbaːɐ̯]. gebären is at rank #27,736, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈbɛːʁən].

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 64082, this pair ranks #654,064 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gebar vs gebären

Shared letters: begr. Private to "gebar": a. Private to "gebären": nä.

"gebar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "gebären" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gebar ← egbar · gbear · geabr · gebarr · gebbar · gebra · ggebar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gebar" for "gebären" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈbaːɐ̯] versus [ɡəˈbɛːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gebar" vs "gebären" - which ranks higher?
"gebären" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,736 in our German list, against #36,346 for "gebar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gebar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gebären" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #654,064 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gebar" and "gebären" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "GBA vs gebar". 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 #654,064 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