gebärenvsgewährenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,736
“gebären” frequency rank
#7,328
“gewähren” frequency rank
35064
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gebären gewähren
Definition ein Kind zur Welt bringen jemandem etwas Erwünschtes zugestehen

Where the eye mixes gebären and gewähren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gebären runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against gewähren's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
gebären
8 ch
gewähren

Look-alike desk: gebären vs gewähren

A purely visual mix-up. gebären ([ɡəˈbɛːʁən]) and gewähren ([ɡəˈvɛːʁən]) 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 35064, 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]. gewähren is at rank #7,328, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈvɛːʁən].

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 35064, this pair ranks #1,648,917 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gebären vs gewähren

Shared letters: egnrä. Private to "gebären": b. Private to "gewähren": hw.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gebären" and "gewähren" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈbɛːʁən] versus [ɡəˈvɛːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gebären" or "gewähren"?
"gewähren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,328 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 "gewähren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,648,917 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gebären" and "gewähren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gebar vs gebären". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,648,917 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