GeburtvsgebürtigTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#2,595
“Geburt” frequency rank
#43,198
“gebürtig” frequency rank
45793
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Geburt gebürtig
Definition Zeitpunkt nach der Entbindung in einem Ort geboren, von einem Ort, einer Gegend oder Land stammend

Where the eye mixes Geburt and gebürtig

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. Geburt runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against gebürtig's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Geburt
8 ch
gebürtig

Look-alike desk: Geburt vs gebürtig

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Geburt is [ɡəˈbuːɐ̯t] while gebürtig is [ɡəˈbʏʁtɪç]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45793, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Geburt is recorded at frequency rank #2,595, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈbuːɐ̯t]. gebürtig is at rank #43,198, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈbʏʁtɪç].

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 45793, this pair ranks #1,341,046 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Geburt vs gebürtig

Shared letters: begrt. Private to "Geburt": u. Private to "gebürtig": iü.

"Geburt" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "gebürtig" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Geburt ← egburt · gbeurt · gebburt · gebrut · geburrt · geburtt · gebutr · geubrt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Geburt" for "gebürtig" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Geburt" is a noun and "gebürtig" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Geburt" or "gebürtig"?
"Geburt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,595 in our German list, against #43,198 for "gebürtig". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Geburt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gebürtig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,341,046 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Geburt" and "gebürtig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gebürtig vs gebürtigen". 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 #1,341,046 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