GebietenvsgebietetWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#3,887
“Gebieten” frequency rank
#38,758
“gebietet” frequency rank
42645
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gebieten gebietet
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Gebiet 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs gebieten

Where the eye mixes Gebieten and gebietet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
Gebieten
8 ch
gebietet

Visual trap between Gebieten and gebietet

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gebieten is [ɡəˈbiːtn̩] while gebietet is [ɡəˈbiːtət]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “Gebieten” becomes t in “gebietet”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42645, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gebieten is recorded at frequency rank #3,887, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈbiːtn̩]. gebietet is at rank #38,758, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈbiːtət].

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 42645, this pair ranks #1,442,976 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gebieten vs gebietet

Shared letters: begit. Private to "Gebieten": n. Private to "gebietet": -.

"Gebieten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC  ·  "gebietet" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gebietenegbieten · gbeieten · gebbieten · gebeiten · gebieetn · gebietenn · gebietne · gebietten
  • gebietetegbietet · gbeietet · gebbietet · gebeitet · gebieett · gebietett · gebiettet · gebiteet

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gebieten" and "gebietet" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gebieten" is a noun and "gebietet" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Gebieten" vs "gebietet" - which ranks higher?
"Gebieten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,887 in our German list, against #38,758 for "gebietet". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gebieten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gebietet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,442,976 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gebieten" and "gebietet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gebetet vs gebietet". 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 #1,442,976 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