GrubevsGruftWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,724
“Grube” frequency rank
#23,966
“Gruft” frequency rank
32690
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Grube Gruft
Definition natürliche oder künstlich angelegte Vertiefung im Erdboden gemauerter Raum (über- oder unterirdisch), in dem der Sarg bestattet wird

Where the eye mixes Grube and Gruft

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Grube
5 ch
Gruft

Look-alike desk: Grube vs Gruft

A purely visual mix-up. Grube ([ˈɡʁuːbə]) and Gruft ([ɡʁʊft]) 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 32690, 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]. Gruft is at rank #23,966, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɡʁʊft].

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 32690, this pair ranks #1,702,151 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Grube vs Gruft

Shared letters: gru. Private to "Grube": be. Private to "Gruft": ft.

"Grube" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Gruft" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Grubeggrube · grbue · grrube · grubbe · grueb · gurbe · rgube
  • Gruftggruft · grfut · grruft · grufft · gruftt · grutf · gurft · rguft

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Grube" and "Gruft" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɡʁuːbə] versus [ɡʁʊft]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Grube" vs "Gruft" - which ranks higher?
"Grube" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,724 in our German list, against #23,966 for "Gruft". 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 "Gruft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,702,151 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Grube" and "Gruft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "graut vs Gruft". 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 #1,702,151 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