grabevsGrubeConfusable pair

Quick tell: grabe is a verb, Grube is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“grabe” is a verb and “Grube” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,633
“grabe” frequency rank
#8,724
“Grube” frequency rank
30357
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grabe Grube
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs graben natürliche oder künstlich angelegte Vertiefung im Erdboden

Where the eye mixes grabe and Grube

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
grabe
5 ch
Grube

Visual trap between grabe and Grube

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: grabe is [ˈɡʁaːbə] while Grube is [ˈɡʁuːbə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “grabe” becomes u in “Grube”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30357, 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]. Grube is at rank #8,724, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡʁuːbə].

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 30357, this pair ranks #1,749,488 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of grabe vs Grube

Shared letters: begr. Private to "grabe": a. Private to "Grube": u.

"grabe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Grube" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grabegarbe · ggrabe · grabbe · graeb · grbae · grrabe · rgabe
  • Grubeggrube · grbue · grrube · grubbe · grueb · gurbe · rgube

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "grabe" for "Grube" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "grabe" is a verb and "Grube" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "grabe" vs "Grube" - which ranks higher?
"Grube" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,724 in our German list, against #21,633 for "grabe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "grabe" and "Grube" 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 "Grube" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,749,488 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "grabe" and "Grube" 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 #1,749,488 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