gebärenvsgefahrenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,736
“gebären” frequency rank
#1,479
“gefahren” frequency rank
29215
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gebären gefahren
Definition ein Kind zur Welt bringen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs fahren

Where the eye mixes gebären and gefahren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gebären runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against gefahren's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
gebären
8 ch
gefahren

Look-alike desk: gebären vs gefahren

A purely visual mix-up. gebären ([ɡəˈbɛːʁən]) and gefahren ([ɡəˈfaːʁən]) 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 29215, 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]. gefahren is at rank #1,479, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈfaːʁən].

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 29215, this pair ranks #1,770,961 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gebären vs gefahren

Shared letters: egnr. Private to "gebären": bä. Private to "gefahren": afh.

"gebären" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "gefahren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gefahren ← egfahren · geafhren · gefahern · gefahhren · gefahrenn · gefahrne · gefahrren · gefarhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gebären" for "gefahren" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈbɛːʁən] versus [ɡəˈfaːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gebären" or "gefahren"?
"gefahren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,479 in our German list, against #27,736 for "gebären". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gebären" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gefahren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,770,961 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gebären" and "gefahren" 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 #1,770,961 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