Which to use
“gebrauchte” is an adjective and “geraucht” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,713
- “gebrauchte” frequency rank
- #11,882
- “geraucht” frequency rank
- 24595
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gebrauchte | geraucht |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gebraucht | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs rauchen |
Where the eye mixes gebrauchte and geraucht
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses gebrauchte with geraucht
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gebrauchte is [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xtə] while geraucht is [ɡəˈʁaʊ̯xt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 24595, 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]. 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 24595, this pair ranks #1,845,392 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gebrauchte vs geraucht
Shared letters: aceghrtu. Private to "gebrauchte": b. Private to "geraucht": -.
"gebrauchte" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCCV · "geraucht" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- gebrauchte ← egbrauchte · gberauchte · gebaruchte · gebbrauchte · gebracuhte · gebraucchte · gebrauchet · gebrauchhte
- geraucht ← egraucht · gearucht · geracuht · gerauccht · gerauchht · gerauchtt · geraucth · gerauhct
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gebrauchte" and "geraucht" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "gebrauchte" or "geraucht"?
Useful next steps
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 "geraucht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,845,392 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gebrauchte" and "geraucht" 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 #1,845,392 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.