probvsprostWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: prob is a verb, prost is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“prob” is a verb and “prost” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,655
“prob” frequency rank
#10,544
“prost” frequency rank
58199
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prob prost
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs proben Ausspruch zum Anstoßen beim Trinken bzw. bei einem Toast

Where the eye mixes prob and prost

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

4 ch
prob
5 ch
prost

Why the eye confuses prob with prost

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: prob is [pʁoːp] while prost is [pʁoːst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58199, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prob is recorded at frequency rank #47,655, classified as averb, pronounced [pʁoːp]. prost is at rank #10,544, tagged as anintj, pronounced [pʁoːst].

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 58199, this pair ranks #871,955 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of prob vs prost

Shared letters: opr. Private to "prob": b. Private to "prost": st.

"prob" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "prost" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • probporb · pprob · prbo · probb · prrob · rpob
  • prostporst · pprost · prosst · prostt · prots · prrost · prsot · rpost

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "prob" and "prost" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "prob" is a verb and "prost" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "prob" or "prost"?
"prost" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,544 in our German list, against #47,655 for "prob". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "prob" and "prost" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "prob" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "prost" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #871,955 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "prob" and "prost" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "PoC vs prob". 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 #871,955 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