gebenvsGenenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#229
“geben” frequency rank
#26,026
“Genen” frequency rank
26255
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature geben Genen
Definition jemandem etwas reichen beziehungsweise in die Nähe oder Hände legen Dativ Plural des Substantivs Gen

Where the eye mixes geben and Genen

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

5 ch
geben
5 ch
Genen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: geben is [ˈɡeːbn̩] while Genen is [ˈɡeːnən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “geben” becomes n in “Genen”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26255, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

geben is recorded at frequency rank #229, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡeːbn̩]. Genen is at rank #26,026, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡeːnən].

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 26255, this pair ranks #1,820,887 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of geben vs Genen

Shared letters: egn. Private to "geben": b. Private to "Genen": -.

"geben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Genen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gebenegben · gbeen · gebben · gebenn · gebne · geebn · ggeben
  • Genengeenn · genenn · genne · gennen · ggenen · gneen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "geben" and "Genen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "geben" is a verb and "Genen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "geben" or "Genen"?
"geben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #229 in our German list, against #26,026 for "Genen". 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 "geben" and "Genen". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "geben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Genen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,820,887 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "geben" and "Genen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Genen vs given". 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