Which to use
“Bahn” is a noun and “bohr” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #774
- “Bahn” frequency rank
- #41,715
- “bohr” frequency rank
- 42489
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Bahn | bohr |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Strecke, die von einem Körper in einer vorgeschriebenen Richtung durchmessen wird | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bohren |
Where the eye mixes Bahn and bohr
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Bahn with bohr
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Bahn is [baːn] while bohr is [boːɐ̯]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42489, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Bahn is recorded at frequency rank #774, classified as anoun, pronounced [baːn]. bohr is at rank #41,715, tagged as averb, pronounced [boːɐ̯].
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 42489, this pair ranks #1,447,719 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Bahn vs bohr
Shared letters: bh. Private to "Bahn": an. Private to "bohr": or.
"Bahn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "bohr" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Bahn" for "bohr" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Bahn" vs "bohr" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Bahn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bohr" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,447,719 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Bahn" and "bohr" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bohr vs boos". 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 #1,447,719 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.