Which to use
“geben” is a verb and “guten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #229
- “geben” frequency rank
- #330
- “guten” frequency rank
- 559
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | geben | guten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemandem etwas reichen beziehungsweise in die Nähe oder Hände legen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs gut |
Where the eye mixes geben and guten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: geben is [ˈɡeːbn̩] while guten is [ˈɡuːtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 559, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
geben is recorded at frequency rank #229, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡeːbn̩]. guten is at rank #330, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡuːtn̩].
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 559, this pair ranks #2,005,688 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of geben vs guten
Shared letters: egn. Private to "geben": b. Private to "guten": tu.
"geben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "guten" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC