ProbezeitvsprophezeitTell them apart

Quick tell: Probezeit is a noun, prophezeit is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Probezeit” is a noun and “prophezeit” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,134
“Probezeit” frequency rank
#29,292
“prophezeit” frequency rank
55426
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Probezeit prophezeit
Definition „vereinbarter oder gesetzlich angeordneter Zeitraum, während dessen ein Rechtsverhältnis oder eine erteilte Erlaubnis unter erleichterten Bedingungen gelöst bzw. entzogen werden kann.“ Partizip Perfekt des Verbs prophezeien

Where the eye mixes Probezeit and prophezeit

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Probezeit runs 9 letters (CCVCVCVVC) against prophezeit's 10 (CCVCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
Probezeit
10 ch
prophezeit

Visual trap between Probezeit and prophezeit

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Probezeit is [ˈpʁoːbəˌt͡saɪ̯t] while prophezeit is [pʁofeˈt͡saɪ̯t]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55426, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Probezeit is recorded at frequency rank #26,134, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpʁoːbəˌt͡saɪ̯t]. prophezeit is at rank #29,292, tagged as averb, pronounced [pʁofeˈt͡saɪ̯t].

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 55426, this pair ranks #980,026 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Probezeit vs prophezeit

Shared letters: eioprtz. Private to "Probezeit": b. Private to "prophezeit": h.

"Probezeit" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVVC  ·  "prophezeit" · 10 letters · shape CCVCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Probezeit ← porbezeit · pprobezeit · prboezeit · probbezeit · probeezit · probezeitt · probezeti · probeziet
  • prophezeit ← porphezeit · pprophezeit · prohpezeit · propehzeit · propheezit · prophezeitt · prophezeti · propheziet

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Probezeit" for "prophezeit" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Probezeit" is a noun and "prophezeit" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Probezeit" or "prophezeit" show up more?
"Probezeit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,134 in our German list, against #29,292 for "prophezeit". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Probezeit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "prophezeit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #980,026 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • 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 #980,026 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