gehobenvsgrobenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#13,145
“gehoben” frequency rank
#12,728
“groben” frequency rank
25873
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gehoben groben
Definition höhergestellt (beruflich, sozial) Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs grob

Where the eye mixes gehoben and groben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gehoben runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against groben's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
gehoben
6 ch
groben

Why the eye confuses gehoben with groben

A purely visual mix-up. gehoben ([ɡəˈhoːbn̩]) and groben ([ˈɡʁoːbn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25873, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gehoben is recorded at frequency rank #13,145, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈhoːbn̩]. groben is at rank #12,728, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡʁoːbn̩].

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 25873, this pair ranks #1,826,724 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gehoben vs groben

Shared letters: begno. Private to "gehoben": h. Private to "groben": r.

"gehoben" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "groben" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gehobeneghoben · gehboen · gehhoben · gehobben · gehobenn · gehobne · gehoebn · geohben
  • grobenggroben · gorben · grboen · grobben · grobenn · grobne · groebn · grroben

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gehoben" for "groben" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ɡəˈhoːbn̩] versus [ˈɡʁoːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "gehoben" or "groben" show up more?
"groben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,728 in our German list, against #13,145 for "gehoben". 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 "gehoben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "groben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,826,724 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gehoben" and "groben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gehoben vs gelobten". 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 #1,826,724 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