Which to use
“grabe” is a verb and “grave” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,633
- “grabe” frequency rank
- #48,941
- “grave” frequency rank
- 70574
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grabe | grave |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs graben | langsam und ernst, feierlich |
Where the eye mixes grabe and grave
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. grabe and grave follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between grabe and grave
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: grabe is [ˈɡʁaːbə] while grave is [ˈɡʁaːvə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “grabe” becomes v in “grave”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70574, 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]. grave is at rank #48,941, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈɡʁaːvə].
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 70574, this pair ranks #442,195 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of grabe vs grave
Shared letters: aegr. Private to "grabe": b. Private to "grave": v.
"grabe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "grave" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "grabe" and "grave" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "grabe" or "grave" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "grabe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #442,195 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grabe" and "grave" 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 #442,195 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.