gehevsGreteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gehe is a verb, Grete is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gehe” is a verb and “Grete” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#969
“gehe” frequency rank
#36,967
“Grete” frequency rank
37936
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gehe Grete
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs gehen weiblicher Vorname

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gehe and Grete apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
gehe
5 ch
Grete

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gehe is [ˈɡeːə] while Grete is [ˈɡʁeːtə]. 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 (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37936, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gehe is recorded at frequency rank #969, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡeːə]. Grete is at rank #36,967, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈɡʁeːtə].

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 37936, this pair ranks #1,577,215 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gehe vs Grete

Shared letters: eg. Private to "gehe": h. Private to "Grete": rt.

"gehe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Grete" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • geheeghe · geeh · gehhe · ggehe · ghee
  • Gretegerte · ggrete · greet · grette · grrete · grtee

Frequency comparison

gehe#969
Grete#36,967

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gehe" and "Grete" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gehe" is a verb and "Grete" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gehe" or "Grete"?
"gehe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #969 in our German list, against #36,967 for "Grete". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering gehe vs Grete

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “gehe”; for a name, it's “Grete”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gehe” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list