gebenvsGebetsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: geben is a verb, Gebets is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“geben” is a verb and “Gebets” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#229
“geben” frequency rank
#46,668
“Gebets” frequency rank
46897
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature geben Gebets
Definition jemandem etwas reichen beziehungsweise in die Nähe oder Hände legen Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Gebet

Where the eye mixes geben and Gebets

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
geben
6 ch
Gebets

Visual trap between geben and Gebets

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: geben is [ˈɡeːbn̩] while Gebets is [ɡəˈbeːt͡s]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46897, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

geben is recorded at frequency rank #229, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡeːbn̩]. Gebets is at rank #46,668, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈbeːt͡s].

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 46897, this pair ranks #1,303,222 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of geben vs Gebets

Shared letters: beg. Private to "geben": n. Private to "Gebets": st.

"geben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Gebets" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gebenegben · gbeen · gebben · gebenn · gebne · geebn · ggeben
  • Gebetsegbets · gbeets · gebbets · gebest · gebetss · gebetts · gebtes · geebts

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "geben" and "Gebets" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "geben" is a verb and "Gebets" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "geben" or "Gebets" show up more?
"geben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #229 in our German list, against #46,668 for "Gebets". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "geben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gebets" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,303,222 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "geben" and "Gebets" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gebets vs gets". 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 #1,303,222 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