GebrauchsvsgebrauchteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Gebrauchs is a noun, gebrauchte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Gebrauchs” is a noun and “gebrauchte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,897
“Gebrauchs” frequency rank
#12,713
“gebrauchte” frequency rank
56610
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gebrauchs gebrauchte
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Gebrauch Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gebraucht

Where the eye mixes Gebrauchs and gebrauchte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

9 ch
Gebrauchs
10 ch
gebrauchte

Look-alike desk: Gebrauchs vs gebrauchte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gebrauchs is [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xs] while gebrauchte is [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56610, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gebrauchs is recorded at frequency rank #43,897, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xs]. 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 56610, this pair ranks #933,651 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gebrauchs vs gebrauchte

Shared letters: abceghru. Private to "Gebrauchs": s. Private to "gebrauchte": t.

"Gebrauchs" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCCC  ·  "gebrauchte" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gebrauchsegbrauchs · gberauchs · gebaruchs · gebbrauchs · gebracuhs · gebraucchs · gebrauchhs · gebrauchss
  • gebrauchteegbrauchte · gberauchte · gebaruchte · gebbrauchte · gebracuhte · gebraucchte · gebrauchet · gebrauchhte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Gebrauchs" for "gebrauchte" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gebrauchs" is a noun and "gebrauchte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Gebrauchs" or "gebrauchte"?
"gebrauchte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,713 in our German list, against #43,897 for "Gebrauchs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gebrauchs" 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 #933,651 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gebrauchs" and "gebrauchte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gebrauchs vs gebrauchtes". 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 #933,651 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