Which to use
“grabe” is a verb and “graue” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,633
- “grabe” frequency rank
- #8,723
- “graue” frequency rank
- 30356
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grabe | graue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs graben | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs grau |
Where the eye mixes grabe and graue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between grabe and graue
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: grabe is [ˈɡʁaːbə] while graue is [ˈɡʁaʊ̯ə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “grabe” becomes u in “graue”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30356, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grabe is recorded at frequency rank #21,633, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈɡʁaːbə]. graue is at rank #8,723, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡʁaʊ̯ə].
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 30356, this pair ranks #1,749,504 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of grabe vs graue
Shared letters: aegr. Private to "grabe": b. Private to "graue": u.
"grabe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "graue" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "grabe" for "graue" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "grabe" or "graue" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "grabe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "graue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,749,504 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grabe" and "graue" 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 #1,749,504 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.