GrubevsGrubenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#8,724
“Grube” frequency rank
#19,595
“Gruben” frequency rank
28319
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Grube Gruben
Definition natürliche oder künstlich angelegte Vertiefung im Erdboden Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Grube

Where the eye mixes Grube and Gruben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Grube
6 ch
Gruben

Visual trap between Grube and Gruben

A purely visual mix-up. Grube ([ˈɡʁuːbə]) and Gruben ([ˈɡʁuːbn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Grube” sits inside “Gruben”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28319, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Grube is recorded at frequency rank #8,724, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡʁuːbə]. Gruben is at rank #19,595, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈɡʁuːbn̩].

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 28319, this pair ranks #1,786,890 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Grube vs Gruben

Shared letters: begru. Private to "Grube": -. Private to "Gruben": n.

"Grube" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Gruben" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Grubeggrube · grbue · grrube · grubbe · grueb · gurbe · rgube
  • Grubenggruben · grbuen · grruben · grubben · grubenn · grubne · gruebn · gurben

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Grube" for "Gruben" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡʁuːbə] versus [ˈɡʁuːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Grube" or "Gruben"?
"Grube" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,724 in our German list, against #19,595 for "Gruben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Grube" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Gruben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,786,890 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Grube" and "Gruben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grobes vs Gruben". 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 #1,786,890 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