BabelvsBadesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#38,618
“Babel” frequency rank
#38,619
“Bades” frequency rank
77237
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Babel Bades
Definition hebräischer Name für Babylon Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Bad

Where the eye mixes Babel and Bades

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Babel and Bades follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
Babel
5 ch
Bades

Visual trap between Babel and Bades

A purely visual mix-up. Babel ([ˈbaːbl̩]) and Bades ([ˈbaːdəs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Babel is recorded at frequency rank #38,618, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbaːbl̩]. Bades is at rank #38,619, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbaːdəs].

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 77237, this pair ranks #265,356 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Babel vs Bades

Shared letters: abe. Private to "Babel": l. Private to "Bades": ds.

"Babel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Bades" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Babel ← babbel · babell · bable · baebl · bbabel · bbael
  • Bades ← abdes · baddes · badess · badse · baeds · bbades · bdaes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Babel" and "Bades" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbaːbl̩] versus [ˈbaːdəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Babel" or "Bades"?
"Babel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,618 in our German list, against #38,619 for "Bades". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Babel" and "Bades" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Babel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bades" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #265,356 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Babel" and "Bades" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bades vs bodies". 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 #265,356 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