Which to use
“Gebrauch” is a noun and “gebrauchen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,583
- “Gebrauch” frequency rank
- #4,986
- “gebrauchen” frequency rank
- 8569
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Gebrauch | gebrauchen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Verwendung, Anwendung, Einsatz | etwas verwenden, benutzen |
Where the eye mixes Gebrauch and gebrauchen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Gebrauch and gebrauchen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gebrauch is [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯x] while gebrauchen is [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Gebrauch” sits inside “gebrauchen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8569, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Gebrauch is recorded at frequency rank #3,583, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯x]. gebrauchen is at rank #4,986, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xn̩].
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 8569, this pair ranks #1,983,769 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Gebrauch vs gebrauchen
Shared letters: abceghru. Private to "Gebrauch": -. Private to "gebrauchen": n.
"Gebrauch" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC · "gebrauchen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Gebrauch ← egbrauch · gberauch · gebaruch · gebbrauch · gebracuh · gebraucch · gebrauchh · gebrauhc
- gebrauchen ← egbrauchen · gberauchen · gebaruchen · gebbrauchen · gebracuhen · gebraucchen · gebraucehn · gebrauchenn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Gebrauch" for "gebrauchen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Gebrauch" or "gebrauchen" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Gebrauch" and "gebrauchen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Gebrauch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gebrauchen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,983,769 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Gebrauch" and "gebrauchen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gebrauchen vs Gebrauchs". 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 #1,983,769 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.