treibevstreibstTell them apart

Which to use

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

#28,885
“treibe” frequency rank
#42,872
“treibst” frequency rank
71757
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature treibe treibst
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs treiben 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs treiben

Where the eye mixes treibe and treibst

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. treibe runs 6 letters (CCVVCV) against treibst's 7 (CCVVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
treibe
7 ch
treibst

Why the eye confuses treibe with treibst

A purely visual mix-up. treibe ([ˈtʁaɪ̯bə]) and treibst ([tʁaɪ̯pst]) 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 71757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

treibe is recorded at frequency rank #28,885, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtʁaɪ̯bə]. treibst is at rank #42,872, tagged as averb, pronounced [tʁaɪ̯pst].

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 71757, this pair ranks #407,686 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of treibe vs treibst

Shared letters: beirt. Private to "treibe": -. Private to "treibst": s.

"treibe" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV  ·  "treibst" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • treibe ← rteibe · teribe · trebie · treibbe · treieb · trreibe · ttreibe
  • treibst ← rteibst · teribst · trebist · treibbst · treibsst · treibstt · treibts · treisbt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "treibe" for "treibst" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtʁaɪ̯bə] versus [tʁaɪ̯pst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "treibe" or "treibst"?
"treibe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,885 in our German list, against #42,872 for "treibst". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "treibe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "treibst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #407,686 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "treibe" and "treibst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "teilst vs treibst". 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 #407,686 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