Which to use
“Probe” is a noun and “prüfe” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,209
- “Probe” frequency rank
- #23,670
- “prüfe” frequency rank
- 28879
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Probe | prüfe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | das Einstudieren bei aufführenden Künsten | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs prüfen |
Where the eye mixes Probe and prüfe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Probe and prüfe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Probe is [ˈpʁoːbə] while prüfe is [ˈpʁyːfə]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28879, 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]. prüfe is at rank #23,670, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpʁyːfə].
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 28879, this pair ranks #1,776,941 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Probe vs prüfe
Shared letters: epr. Private to "Probe": bo. Private to "prüfe": fü.
"Probe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "prüfe" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Probe ← porbe · pprobe · prboe · probbe · proeb · prrobe · rpobe
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Probe" for "prüfe" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Probe" or "prüfe"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Probe" and "prüfe" 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 "prüfe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,776,941 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Probe" and "prüfe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Paule vs prüfe". 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 #1,776,941 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.