göbelvsgoesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#37,550
“göbel” frequency rank
#17,311
“goes” frequency rank
54861
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature göbel goes
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs göbeln 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs go

Where the eye mixes göbel and goes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. göbel runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against goes's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
göbel
4 ch
goes

Why the eye confuses göbel with goes

A purely visual mix-up. göbel ([ˈɡøːbl̩]) and goes ([ɡəʊz]) 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 54861, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

göbel is recorded at frequency rank #37,550, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡøːbl̩]. goes is at rank #17,311, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəʊz].

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 54861, this pair ranks #1,002,141 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of göbel vs goes

Shared letters: eg. Private to "göbel": blö. Private to "goes": os.

"göbel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "goes" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • goes ← geos · ggoes · goess · gose · oges

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "göbel" and "goes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡøːbl̩] versus [ɡəʊz]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "göbel" or "goes"?
"goes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,311 in our German list, against #37,550 for "göbel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "göbel" and "goes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "göbel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "goes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,002,141 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "göbel" and "goes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "göbel vs Gockel". 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 #1,002,141 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