treiben
[ˈtʁaɪ̯bn̩]
The verdict
“treiben” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #3,081 in German word frequency and used as a verb.
- #3,081
- frequency rank, German
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 16
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Personen oder Tiere dazu bringen, sich in eine bestimmte Richtung zu bewegen
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 | treiben |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [ˈtʁaɪ̯bn̩] |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #3,081 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 16 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “treiben” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for treiben is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈtʁaɪ̯bn̩]. Corpus data places it at rank #3,081 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for treiben, with forms such as "rteiben", "teriben", and "trebien". 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 16 confusable-pair relationships, "treten", "treibt", "Treuen", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is treiben, spelled T-R-E-I-B-E-N.
Definition
- 1Personen oder Tiere dazu bringen, sich in eine bestimmte Richtung zu bewegen
- 2(Blüten und so weiter, auch medizinisch) physiologische Reaktionen hervorbringen
- 3Triebe hervorbringen
- 4Pflanzen zum Austreiben bringen
- 5sich passiv mit der Strömung fortbewegen
- 6etwas passiv Schwimmendes transportieren
- 7anderes Wort für tun
- 8(Blech) in eine bestimmte Form hämmern
- 9den Geschlechtsverkehr ausüben
- 10(Technik) in Bewegung versetzen oder halten
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: rteiben,teriben,trebien,treibben,treibenn,treibne,treiebn,trreiben,ttreiben
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of treiben - 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "treiben"?
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Using “treiben”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is T-R-E-I-B-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈtʁaɪ̯bn̩] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “treten” - see the side-by-side comparison. treiben vs treten
- 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.