Which to use
“gebrauchen” is a verb and “gebrauchte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,986
- “gebrauchen” frequency rank
- #12,713
- “gebrauchte” frequency rank
- 17699
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gebrauchen | gebrauchte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas verwenden, benutzen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gebraucht |
Where the eye mixes gebrauchen and gebrauchte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses gebrauchen with gebrauchte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gebrauchen is [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xn̩] while gebrauchte is [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xtə]. 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 17699, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gebrauchen is recorded at frequency rank #4,986, classified as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xn̩]. gebrauchte is at rank #12,713, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xtə].
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 17699, this pair ranks #1,925,056 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gebrauchen vs gebrauchte
Shared letters: abceghru. Private to "gebrauchen": n. Private to "gebrauchte": t.
"gebrauchen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVC · "gebrauchte" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- gebrauchen ← egbrauchen · gberauchen · gebaruchen · gebbrauchen · gebracuhen · gebraucchen · gebraucehn · gebrauchenn
- gebrauchte ← egbrauchte · gberauchte · gebaruchte · gebbrauchte · gebracuhte · gebraucchte · gebrauchet · gebrauchhte
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gebrauchen" and "gebrauchte" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "gebrauchen" or "gebrauchte"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "gebrauchen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gebrauchte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,925,056 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gebrauchen" and "gebrauchte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gebrachte vs gebrauchte". 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 #1,925,056 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.