treibevstreibtWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#28,885
“treibe” frequency rank
#3,925
“treibt” frequency rank
32810
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature treibe treibt
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs treiben 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs treiben

Where the eye mixes treibe and treibt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. treibe (CCVVCV) and treibt (CCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
treibe
6 ch
treibt

Look-alike desk: treibe vs treibt

A purely visual mix-up. treibe ([ˈtʁaɪ̯bə]) and treibt ([tʁaɪ̯pt]) 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 a single letter - e in “treibe” becomes t in “treibt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32810, 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]. treibt is at rank #3,925, tagged as averb, pronounced [tʁaɪ̯pt].

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 32810, this pair ranks #1,699,548 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of treibe vs treibt

Shared letters: beirt. Private to "treibe": -. Private to "treibt": -.

"treibe" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV  ·  "treibt" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • treibe ← rteibe · teribe · trebie · treibbe · treieb · trreibe · ttreibe
  • treibt ← rteibt · teribt · trebit · treibbt · treibtt · treitb · triebt · trreibt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "treibe" and "treibt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtʁaɪ̯bə] versus [tʁaɪ̯pt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "treibe" or "treibt"?
"treibt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,925 in our German list, against #28,885 for "treibe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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 "treibt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,699,548 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "treibe" and "treibt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "treibe 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 #1,699,548 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