ProbenvsProteinWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,297
“Proben” frequency rank
#11,726
“Protein” frequency rank
17023
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Proben Protein
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Probe ein aus Aminosäuren aufgebautes Makromolekül

Where the eye mixes Proben and Protein

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

6 ch
Proben
7 ch
Protein

Look-alike desk: Proben vs Protein

A purely visual mix-up. Proben ([ˈpʁoːbn̩]) and Protein ([pʁoteˈiːn]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Proben is recorded at frequency rank #5,297, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpʁoːbn̩]. Protein is at rank #11,726, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pʁoteˈiːn].

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 17023, this pair ranks #1,931,014 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Proben vs Protein

Shared letters: enopr. Private to "Proben": b. Private to "Protein": it.

"Proben" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "Protein" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Probenporben · pproben · prboen · probben · probenn · probne · proebn · prroben
  • Proteinportein · pprotein · proetin · proteinn · proteni · protien · prottein · prrotein

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Proben" and "Protein" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpʁoːbn̩] versus [pʁoteˈiːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Proben" vs "Protein" - which ranks higher?
"Proben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,297 in our German list, against #11,726 for "Protein". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Proben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Protein" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,931,014 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Proben" and "Protein" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Protein vs Proton". 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 #1,931,014 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