gebautenvsgenauenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,158
“gebauten” frequency rank
#6,068
“genauen” frequency rank
22226
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gebauten genauen
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gebaut Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs genau

Where the eye mixes gebauten and genauen

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

8 ch
gebauten
7 ch
genauen

Visual trap between gebauten and genauen

A purely visual mix-up. gebauten ([ɡəˈbaʊ̯tn̩]) and genauen ([ɡəˈnaʊ̯ən]) 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 22226, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gebauten is recorded at frequency rank #16,158, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈbaʊ̯tn̩]. genauen is at rank #6,068, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈnaʊ̯ən].

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 22226, this pair ranks #1,876,774 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gebauten vs genauen

Shared letters: aegnu. Private to "gebauten": bt. Private to "genauen": -.

"gebauten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC  ·  "genauen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gebautenegbauten · gbeauten · geabuten · gebatuen · gebauetn · gebautenn · gebautne · gebautten
  • genauenegnauen · geanuen · genaeun · genauenn · genaune · gennauen · genuaen · ggenauen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gebauten" and "genauen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈbaʊ̯tn̩] versus [ɡəˈnaʊ̯ən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gebauten" vs "genauen" - which ranks higher?
"genauen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,068 in our German list, against #16,158 for "gebauten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gebauten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "genauen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,876,774 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gebauten" and "genauen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "geballten vs gebauten". 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 #1,876,774 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