Which to use
“back” is an adverb and “backen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,800
- “back” frequency rank
- #6,274
- “backen” frequency rank
- 12074
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | back | backen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | entgegen, zurück, rückwärts | im Ofen erhitzen |
Where the eye mixes back and backen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. back runs 4 letters (CVCC) against backen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between back and backen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: back is [bak] while backen is [ˈbakn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “back” sits inside “backen”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12074, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
back is recorded at frequency rank #5,800, classified as anadv, pronounced [bak]. backen is at rank #6,274, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbakn̩].
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 12074, this pair ranks #1,966,320 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of back vs backen
Shared letters: abck. Private to "back": -. Private to "backen": en.
"back" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "backen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "back" and "backen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "back" or "backen" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "back" and "backen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "back" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "backen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,966,320 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "back" and "backen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "back vs bic". 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 #1,966,320 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.