Which to use
“gebeten” and “geraten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,188
- “gebeten” frequency rank
- #3,124
- “geraten” frequency rank
- 6312
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gebeten | geraten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs bitten | zufällig/ ohne Absicht an den falschen Ort oder in eine unangenehme Situation kommen |
Where the eye mixes gebeten and geraten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gebeten and geraten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses gebeten with geraten
A purely visual mix-up. gebeten ([ɡəˈbeːtn̩]) and geraten ([ɡəˈʁaːtn̩]) 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 6312, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gebeten is recorded at frequency rank #3,188, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈbeːtn̩]. geraten is at rank #3,124, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʁaːtn̩].
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 6312, this pair ranks #1,992,053 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gebeten vs geraten
Shared letters: egnt. Private to "gebeten": b. Private to "geraten": ar.
"gebeten" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "geraten" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gebeten" and "geraten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "gebeten" or "geraten" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gebeten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "geraten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,992,053 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gebeten" and "geraten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gebeten vs gebotene". 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 #1,992,053 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.