BackevsbanksWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,815
“Backe” frequency rank
#21,539
“banks” frequency rank
40354
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Backe banks
Definition einer der zwei Zwischenräume im Mund zwischen seitlichen Zähnen und der Schleimhaut außerhalb der Zähne (leer oder gefüllt) Plural des Substantivs bank

Where the eye mixes Backe and banks

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Backe
5 ch
banks

Visual trap between Backe and banks

A purely visual mix-up. Backe ([ˈbakə]) and banks ([bæŋks]) 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 40354, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Backe is recorded at frequency rank #18,815, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbakə]. banks is at rank #21,539, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bæŋks].

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 40354, this pair ranks #1,510,925 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Backe vs banks

Shared letters: abk. Private to "Backe": ce. Private to "banks": ns.

"Backe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "banks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Backeabcke · baccke · bacek · backke · bakce · bbacke · bcake
  • banksabnks · bakns · bankks · bankss · bannks · bansk · bbanks · bnaks

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Backe" for "banks" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbakə] versus [bæŋks]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Backe" or "banks" show up more?
"Backe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,815 in our German list, against #21,539 for "banks". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Backe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "banks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,510,925 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Backe" and "banks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "banco vs banks". 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 #1,510,925 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