aber
[ˈaːbɐ]
The verdict
“aber” has 5 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #31. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #31
- frequency rank, German
- 6,976
- “A” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - jedoch, dagegen
Corpus desk
Index DE-aber · aber · German
aber · rank #31 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #31
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,976
- PHOTO-FINISH wie
Nearest frequency peer: wie (-1 rank slots)
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “aber”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- so
so
99,973 corpus weight
- bei
bei
99,972 corpus weight
- wie
wie
99,971 corpus weight
- aber
aber
99,970 corpus weight
- aus
aus
99,969 corpus weight
- hat
hat
99,968 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “aber” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | aber |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Conjunction |
| IPA | [ˈaːbɐ] |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #31 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “aber” sits in German frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around aber (IPA [ˈaːbɐ]), aconjunction. Corpus frequency is #31 among 6,976 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for aber, with forms such as "abber", "aberr", and "abre". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ae", "air", "are", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is aber, spelled A-B-E-R.
Definition
- 1jedoch, dagegen
- 2doch, indessen, jedoch
- 3allerdings, doch, jedoch
- 4jedoch
- 5Ausdruck eines Einwands, einer Entgegnung
- 6Im Althochdeutschen existierten avur, im 8. Jahrhundert auch afa und afar als Adverb und Konjunktion. Diese Formen sind genau wie das mittelhochdeutsche aber und aver, das mittelniederdeutsche āver, ōver und ēver ‚wiederum, abermals; aber, dagegen‘, die verwandte gotische Präposition afar ‚nach‘, das in Zusammensetzungen gebrauchte altnordische und mundartliche norwegische aur- ‚hinter, unter‘ sowie vermutlich auch das altnordische afar- ^(→ non) ‚besonders, sehr‘ alte Komparativbildungen zum indoeuropäischen *apu, *apo ‚ab, weg‘. Hierher gehören auch das altindische अपरम् (aparám) ^(→ sa) ‚später, künftig‘, das awestische Adjektiv apara- ‚hinterer; folgender, zweiter (in der Reihenfolge); späterer, künftiger‘, das altsächsische aƀaro sowie das altenglische eafora ^(→ ang) ‚Nachkomme‘. Hinsichtlich der Bedeutung ergibt sich aus der Etymologie, dass aber anfangs für ‚später, weiter entfernt‘ gestanden hat. Hieraus entstand im Deutschen die Bedeutung ‚wieder, ein weiteres Mal‘ als Ausdruck von Wiederholungen. Ausgehend von der Wiederholung konnte sich die Bedeutung dann auch auf die Bezeichnung von Gegensätzen ausdehnen, was in Bildungen wie Aberglaube und Aberwitz erkennbar ist, die jeweils für das Gegenteil ihres Grundwortes stehen. Im Althochdeutschen sind die Bedeutungen hinsichtlich Wiederholung und Gegensatz bereits ausgebildet. Die Verwendung von aber als Konjunktion kommt im Spätalthochdeutschen auf.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how aber appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Ich gehe, aber du bleibst hier.
Ich schlafe, du aber bist laut.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- abber
- aberr
- abre
- aebr
- baer
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of aber - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "aber"?
What does "aber" mean?
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Similar German words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "aber", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.