gebrauchtvsgerauchtWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,107
“gebraucht” frequency rank
#11,882
“geraucht” frequency rank
13989
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gebraucht geraucht
Definition bereits verwendet, nicht neu Partizip Perfekt des Verbs rauchen

Where the eye mixes gebraucht and geraucht

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

9 ch
gebraucht
8 ch
geraucht

Visual trap between gebraucht and geraucht

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gebraucht is [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xt] while geraucht is [ɡəˈʁaʊ̯xt]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13989, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gebraucht is recorded at frequency rank #2,107, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xt]. geraucht is at rank #11,882, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəˈʁaʊ̯xt].

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 13989, this pair ranks #1,954,322 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gebraucht vs geraucht

Shared letters: aceghrtu. Private to "gebraucht": b. Private to "geraucht": -.

"gebraucht" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCCC  ·  "geraucht" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gebrauchtegbraucht · gberaucht · gebarucht · gebbraucht · gebracuht · gebrauccht · gebrauchht · gebrauchtt
  • gerauchtegraucht · gearucht · geracuht · gerauccht · gerauchht · gerauchtt · geraucth · gerauhct

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gebraucht" and "geraucht" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gebraucht" is an adjective and "geraucht" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "gebraucht" or "geraucht" show up more?
"gebraucht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,107 in our German list, against #11,882 for "geraucht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gebraucht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "geraucht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,954,322 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gebraucht" and "geraucht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gebrauchs vs geraucht". 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 #1,954,322 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