gebratenvsgegrabenConfusable pair

Quick tell: gebraten is a adjective, gegraben is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gebraten” is an adjective and “gegraben” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,885
“gebraten” frequency rank
#28,207
“gegraben” frequency rank
55092
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gebraten gegraben
Definition durch Erhitzen, ohne umgebende Flüssigkeit oder in Fett, gegart Partizip Perfekt des Verbs graben

Where the eye mixes gebraten and gegraben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. gebraten and gegraben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
gebraten
8 ch
gegraben

Why the eye confuses gebraten with gegraben

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gebraten is [ɡəˈbʁaːtn̩] while gegraben is [ɡəˈɡʁaːbn̩]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55092, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gebraten is recorded at frequency rank #26,885, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈbʁaːtn̩]. gegraben is at rank #28,207, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈɡʁaːbn̩].

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 55092, this pair ranks #993,072 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gebraten vs gegraben

Shared letters: abegnr. Private to "gebraten": t. Private to "gegraben": -.

"gebraten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "gegraben" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gebratenegbraten · gberaten · gebarten · gebbraten · gebraetn · gebratenn · gebratne · gebratten
  • gegrabeneggraben · gegarben · geggraben · gegrabben · gegrabenn · gegrabne · gegraebn · gegrbaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gebraten" for "gegraben" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gebraten" is an adjective and "gegraben" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "gebraten" vs "gegraben" - which ranks higher?
"gebraten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,885 in our German list, against #28,207 for "gegraben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "gebraten" and "gegraben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gebraten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gegraben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #993,072 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gebraten" and "gegraben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gebrachten vs gebraten". 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 #993,072 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