GräbervsGrabesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,159
“Gräber” frequency rank
#37,546
“Grabes” frequency rank
50705
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gräber Grabes
Definition Person, die aus bestimmten Gründen eine Vertiefung in der Erde aushebt Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Grab

Where the eye mixes Gräber and Grabes

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

6 ch
Gräber
6 ch
Grabes

Why the eye confuses Gräber with Grabes

A purely visual mix-up. Gräber ([ˈɡʁɛːbɐ]) and Grabes ([ˈɡʁaːbəs]) 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 50705, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gräber is recorded at frequency rank #13,159, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡʁɛːbɐ]. Grabes is at rank #37,546, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡʁaːbəs].

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 50705, this pair ranks #1,163,607 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Gräber vs Grabes

Shared letters: begr. Private to "Gräber": ä. Private to "Grabes": as.

"Gräber" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "Grabes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Grabesgarbes · ggrabes · grabbes · grabess · grabse · graebs · grbaes · grrabes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Gräber" and "Grabes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡʁɛːbɐ] versus [ˈɡʁaːbəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Gräber" or "Grabes" show up more?
"Gräber" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,159 in our German list, against #37,546 for "Grabes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gräber" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Grabes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,163,607 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gräber" and "Grabes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Grabes 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 #1,163,607 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