gebrauchtevsgebrauchtenTell them apart

Which to use

“gebrauchte” and “gebrauchten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,713
“gebrauchte” frequency rank
#14,570
“gebrauchten” frequency rank
27283
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gebrauchte gebrauchten
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gebraucht Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs gebraucht

Where the eye mixes gebrauchte and gebrauchten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.

10 ch
gebrauchte
11 ch
gebrauchten

Look-alike desk: gebrauchte vs gebrauchten

A purely visual mix-up. gebrauchte ([ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xtə]) and gebrauchten ([ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xtn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “gebrauchte” sits inside “gebrauchten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27283, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gebrauchte is recorded at frequency rank #12,713, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xtə]. gebrauchten is at rank #14,570, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xtn̩].

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 27283, this pair ranks #1,804,298 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gebrauchte vs gebrauchten

Shared letters: abceghrtu. Private to "gebrauchte": -. Private to "gebrauchten": n.

"gebrauchte" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCCV  ·  "gebrauchten" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gebrauchteegbrauchte · gberauchte · gebaruchte · gebbrauchte · gebracuhte · gebraucchte · gebrauchet · gebrauchhte
  • gebrauchtenegbrauchten · gberauchten · gebaruchten · gebbrauchten · gebracuhten · gebraucchten · gebrauchetn · gebrauchhten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gebrauchte" and "gebrauchten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xtə] versus [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gebrauchte" vs "gebrauchten" - which ranks higher?
"gebrauchte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,713 in our German list, against #14,570 for "gebrauchten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gebrauchte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gebrauchten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,804,298 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gebrauchte" and "gebrauchten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gebrachte vs gebrauchten". 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 #1,804,298 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