bähvsBusWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: bäh is a intj, Bus is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bäh” is an intj and “Bus” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,503
“bäh” frequency rank
#1,626
“Bus” frequency rank
35129
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bäh Bus
Definition Ausdruck der Abscheu, der Verachtung, der Schadenfreude als Verkehrsmittel im öffentlichen Personennahverkehr eingesetztes vielsitziges, großes Kraftfahrzeug zur Beförderung einer größeren Anzahl von Personen

Where the eye mixes bäh and Bus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
bäh
3 ch
Bus

Look-alike desk: bäh vs Bus

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bäh is [bɛː] while Bus is [bʊs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35129, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bäh is recorded at frequency rank #33,503, classified as anintj, pronounced [bɛː]. Bus is at rank #1,626, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bʊs].

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 35129, this pair ranks #1,647,371 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bäh vs Bus

Shared letters: b. Private to "bäh": . Private to "Bus": su.

"bäh" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Bus" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bäh" for "Bus" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bäh" is an intj and "Bus" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bäh" or "Bus"?
"Bus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,626 in our German list, against #33,503 for "bäh". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "bäh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,647,371 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bäh" and "Bus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bäh vs bic". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,647,371 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