Which to use
“gerade” is an adjective and “grabe” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #155
- “gerade” frequency rank
- #21,633
- “grabe” frequency rank
- 21788
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gerade | grabe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht gebogen oder gekrümmt | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs graben |
Where the eye mixes gerade and grabe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: gerade vs grabe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gerade is [ɡəˈʁaːdə] while grabe is [ˈɡʁaːbə]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21788, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gerade is recorded at frequency rank #155, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈʁaːdə]. grabe is at rank #21,633, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɡʁaːbə].
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 21788, this pair ranks #1,882,138 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gerade vs grabe
Shared letters: aegr. Private to "gerade": d. Private to "grabe": b.
"gerade" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "grabe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gerade" for "grabe" ever safe?
Which is more common, "gerade" or "grabe"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "gerade" and "grabe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "gerade" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grabe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,882,138 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gerade" and "grabe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grabe vs grave". 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 #1,882,138 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.