VergabenvsvergebeTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#47,085
“Vergaben” frequency rank
#45,653
“vergebe” frequency rank
92738
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Vergaben vergebe
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Vergabe 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs vergeben

Where the eye mixes Vergaben and vergebe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Vergaben runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against vergebe's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Vergaben
7 ch
vergebe

Look-alike desk: Vergaben vs vergebe

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Vergaben is [fɛɐ̯ˈɡaːbn̩] while vergebe is [fɛɐ̯ˈɡeːbə]. 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 92738, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Vergaben is recorded at frequency rank #47,085, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡaːbn̩]. vergebe is at rank #45,653, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡeːbə].

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 92738, this pair ranks #27,631 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Vergaben vs vergebe

Shared letters: begrv. Private to "Vergaben": an. Private to "vergebe": -.

"Vergaben" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "vergebe" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Vergabenevrgaben · vegraben · veragben · vergabben · vergabenn · vergabne · vergaebn · vergbaen
  • vergebeevrgebe · vegrebe · veregbe · vergbee · vergebbe · vergeeb · verggebe · verrgebe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Vergaben" for "vergebe" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Vergaben" is a noun and "vergebe" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Vergaben" or "vergebe"?
"vergebe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #45,653 in our German list, against #47,085 for "Vergaben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Vergaben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vergebe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #27,631 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Vergaben" and "vergebe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vergaben vs verjagen". 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 #27,631 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