bahntvsbaustWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#36,212
“bahnt” frequency rank
#26,322
“baust” frequency rank
62534
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bahnt baust
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bahnen 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bauen

Where the eye mixes bahnt and baust

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

5 ch
bahnt
5 ch
baust

Look-alike desk: bahnt vs baust

A purely visual mix-up. bahnt ([baːnt]) and baust ([baʊ̯st]) 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 62534, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bahnt is recorded at frequency rank #36,212, classified as averb, pronounced [baːnt]. baust is at rank #26,322, tagged as averb, pronounced [baʊ̯st].

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 62534, this pair ranks #709,331 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bahnt vs baust

Shared letters: abt. Private to "bahnt": hn. Private to "baust": su.

"bahnt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "baust" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bahntabhnt · bahhnt · bahnnt · bahntt · bahtn · banht · bbahnt · bhant
  • baustabust · basut · bausst · baustt · bauts · bbaust · buast

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bahnt" and "baust" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([baːnt] versus [baʊ̯st]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bahnt" or "baust"?
"baust" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,322 in our German list, against #36,212 for "bahnt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "bahnt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "baust" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #709,331 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bahnt" and "baust" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bahnt vs bain". 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 #709,331 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