Which to use
“grabe” is a verb and “Grauen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,633
- “grabe” frequency rank
- #6,196
- “Grauen” frequency rank
- 27829
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grabe | Grauen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs graben | Gefühl der Furcht, des Entsetzens aufgrund von etwas Bedrohlichem |
Where the eye mixes grabe and Grauen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. grabe runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against Grauen's 6 (CCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: grabe vs Grauen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: grabe is [ˈɡʁaːbə] while Grauen is [ˈɡʁaʊ̯ən]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27829, 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]. Grauen is at rank #6,196, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡʁaʊ̯ən].
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 27829, this pair ranks #1,795,163 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of grabe vs Grauen
Shared letters: aegr. Private to "grabe": b. Private to "Grauen": nu.
"grabe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "Grauen" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "grabe" for "Grauen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "grabe" vs "Grauen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "grabe" and "Grauen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "grabe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Grauen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,795,163 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grabe" and "Grauen" 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 #1,795,163 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.