oben
[ˈoːbn̩]
The verdict
“oben” is in the everyday core of German, ranked #459 in German word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #459
- frequency rank, German
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - an hoch gelegener Stelle/Ort
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 | oben |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | [ˈoːbn̩] |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #459 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “oben” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for oben is 4 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈoːbn̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #459 in overall German word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for oben, with forms such as "boen", "obben", and "obenn". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "on", "one", "obs", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is oben, spelled O-B-E-N.
Definition
- 1an hoch gelegener Stelle/Ort
- 2weiter vorn in einem Schriftstück/Druckseite/Webseite und Ähnlichem
- 3auf einer höheren Hierarchieebene
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: boen,obben,obenn,obne,oebn
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of oben - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "oben"?
What does "oben" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “oben”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is O-B-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈoːbn̩] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “on” - see the side-by-side comparison. oben vs on
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
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.