GrafenvsgrauesConfusable pair

Quick tell: Grafen is a noun, graues is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Grafen” is a noun and “graues” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,372
“Grafen” frequency rank
#32,066
“graues” frequency rank
37438
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Grafen graues
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Graf Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs grau

Where the eye mixes Grafen and graues

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

6 ch
Grafen
6 ch
graues

Look-alike desk: Grafen vs graues

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Grafen is [ˈɡʁaːfən] while graues is [ˈɡʁaʊ̯əs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37438, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Grafen is recorded at frequency rank #5,372, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡʁaːfən]. graues is at rank #32,066, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɡʁaʊ̯əs].

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 37438, this pair ranks #1,590,240 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Grafen vs graues

Shared letters: aegr. Private to "Grafen": fn. Private to "graues": su.

"Grafen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "graues" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Grafengarfen · ggrafen · graefn · grafenn · graffen · grafne · grfaen · grrafen
  • grauesgarues · ggraues · graeus · grauess · grause · grraues · gruaes · rgaues

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Grafen" and "graues" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Grafen" is a noun and "graues" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Grafen" or "graues"?
"Grafen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,372 in our German list, against #32,066 for "graues". 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 "Grafen" and "graues" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Grafen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "graues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,590,240 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Grafen" and "graues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "graues 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 #1,590,240 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