gebärenvsgebetenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#27,736
“gebären” frequency rank
#3,188
“gebeten” frequency rank
30924
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gebären gebeten
Definition ein Kind zur Welt bringen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs bitten

Where the eye mixes gebären and gebeten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gebären and gebeten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
gebären
7 ch
gebeten

Why the eye confuses gebären with gebeten

A purely visual mix-up. gebären ([ɡəˈbɛːʁən]) and gebeten ([ɡəˈbeːtn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30924, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gebären is recorded at frequency rank #27,736, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈbɛːʁən]. gebeten is at rank #3,188, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈbeːtn̩].

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 30924, this pair ranks #1,738,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gebären vs gebeten

Shared letters: begn. Private to "gebären": rä. Private to "gebeten": t.

"gebären" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "gebeten" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gebeten ← egbeten · gbeeten · gebbeten · gebeetn · gebetenn · gebetne · gebetten · gebteen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gebären" for "gebeten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈbɛːʁən] versus [ɡəˈbeːtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gebären" vs "gebeten" - which ranks higher?
"gebeten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,188 in our German list, against #27,736 for "gebären". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gebären" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gebeten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,738,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gebären" and "gebeten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gebar vs gebären". 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 #1,738,337 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