gebevsgehnWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,078
“gebe” frequency rank
#11,434
“gehn” frequency rank
12512
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gebe gehn
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs geben verkürzte bzw. ursprüngliche Schreibweise von gehen

Where the eye mixes gebe and gehn

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
gebe
4 ch
gehn

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. gebe ([ˈɡeːbə]) and gehn ([ɡeːn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12512, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gebe is recorded at frequency rank #1,078, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡeːbə]. gehn is at rank #11,434, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡeːn].

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 12512, this pair ranks #1,963,740 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gebe vs gehn

Shared letters: eg. Private to "gebe": b. Private to "gehn": hn.

"gebe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "gehn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gebeegbe · gbee · gebbe · geeb · ggebe
  • gehneghn · gehhn · gehnn · genh · ggehn · ghen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gebe" and "gehn" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡeːbə] versus [ɡeːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gebe" or "gehn"?
"gebe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,078 in our German list, against #11,434 for "gehn". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "gebe" and "gehn". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gebe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gehn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,963,740 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gebe" and "gehn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gehn vs geis". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list