gebautvsgebrautTell them apart

Quick tell: gebaut is a adjective, gebraut is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gebaut” is an adjective and “gebraut” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,514
“gebaut” frequency rank
#35,785
“gebraut” frequency rank
37299
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gebaut gebraut
Definition durch Fertigung, Herstellung, Produktion oder Ähnliches entstanden seiend Partizip Perfekt des Verbs brauen

Where the eye mixes gebaut and gebraut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
gebaut
7 ch
gebraut

Why the eye confuses gebaut with gebraut

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gebaut is [ɡəˈbaʊ̯t] while gebraut is [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯t]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37299, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gebaut is recorded at frequency rank #1,514, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈbaʊ̯t]. gebraut is at rank #35,785, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯t].

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 37299, this pair ranks #1,593,792 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gebaut vs gebraut

Shared letters: abegtu. Private to "gebaut": -. Private to "gebraut": r.

"gebaut" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "gebraut" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gebautegbaut · gbeaut · geabut · gebatu · gebautt · gebbaut · gebuat · ggebaut
  • gebrautegbraut · gberaut · gebarut · gebbraut · gebratu · gebrautt · gebrraut · gebruat

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gebaut" for "gebraut" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gebaut" is an adjective and "gebraut" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gebaut" or "gebraut"?
"gebaut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,514 in our German list, against #35,785 for "gebraut". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gebaut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gebraut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,593,792 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gebaut" and "gebraut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gebraut vs graut". 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 #1,593,792 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