ProbevsProbenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,209
“Probe” frequency rank
#5,297
“Proben” frequency rank
10506
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Probe Proben
Definition das Einstudieren bei aufführenden Künsten Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Probe

Where the eye mixes Probe and Proben

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

5 ch
Probe
6 ch
Proben

Visual trap between Probe and Proben

A purely visual mix-up. Probe ([ˈpʁoːbə]) and Proben ([ˈpʁoːbn̩]) 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) - “Probe” sits inside “Proben”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10506, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Probe is recorded at frequency rank #5,209, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpʁoːbə]. Proben is at rank #5,297, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpʁoːbn̩].

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 10506, this pair ranks #1,974,791 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Probe vs Proben

Shared letters: beopr. Private to "Probe": -. Private to "Proben": n.

"Probe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Proben" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Probeporbe · pprobe · prboe · probbe · proeb · prrobe · rpobe
  • Probenporben · pproben · prboen · probben · probenn · probne · proebn · prroben

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Probe" for "Proben" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpʁoːbə] versus [ˈpʁoːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Probe" or "Proben" show up more?
"Probe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,209 in our German list, against #5,297 for "Proben". 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 "Probe" and "Proben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Probe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Proben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,974,791 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Probe" and "Proben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prob vs Proben". 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 #1,974,791 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