grabevsgrautWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,633
“grabe” frequency rank
#46,707
“graut” frequency rank
68340
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grabe graut
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs graben 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs grauen

Where the eye mixes grabe and graut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. grabe (CCVCV) and graut (CCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
grabe
5 ch
graut

Why the eye confuses grabe with graut

A purely visual mix-up. grabe ([ˈɡʁaːbə]) and graut ([ɡʁaʊ̯t]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68340, 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]. graut is at rank #46,707, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡʁaʊ̯t].

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 68340, this pair ranks #510,947 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of grabe vs graut

Shared letters: agr. Private to "grabe": be. Private to "graut": tu.

"grabe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "graut" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grabe ← garbe · ggrabe · grabbe · graeb · grbae · grrabe · rgabe
  • graut ← garut · ggraut · gratu · grautt · grraut · gruat · rgaut

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "grabe" and "graut" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡʁaːbə] versus [ɡʁaʊ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "grabe" or "graut"?
"grabe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,633 in our German list, against #46,707 for "graut". 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 "grabe" and "graut" 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 "graut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #510,947 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "grabe" and "graut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "graut 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 #510,947 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