gebautvsgesaugtWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,514
“gebaut” frequency rank
#43,914
“gesaugt” frequency rank
45428
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gebaut and gesaugt apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
gebaut
7 ch
gesaugt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gebaut is [ɡəˈbaʊ̯t] while gesaugt is [ɡəˈzaʊ̯kt]. 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 45428, 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]. gesaugt is at rank #43,914, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈzaʊ̯kt].

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 45428, this pair ranks #1,353,359 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gebaut vs gesaugt

Shared letters: aegtu. Private to "gebaut": b. Private to "gesaugt": s.

"gebaut" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "gesaugt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gebautegbaut · gbeaut · geabut · gebatu · gebautt · gebbaut · gebuat · ggebaut
  • gesaugtegsaugt · geasugt · gesagut · gesauggt · gesaugtt · gesautg · gessaugt · gesuagt

Frequency comparison

gebaut#1,514
gesaugt#43,914

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gebaut" and "gesaugt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gebaut" is an adjective and "gesaugt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gebaut" or "gesaugt"?
"gebaut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,514 in our German list, against #43,914 for "gesaugt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering gebaut vs gesaugt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “gebaut”; for a verb, it's “gesaugt”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gebaut” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list