baivsbuhWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: bai is a adjective, buh is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bai” is an adjective and “buh” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,213
“bai” frequency rank
#43,079
“buh” frequency rank
79292
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bai buh
Definition von bräunlich roter Fellfarbe; rotbraun, braun Ausruf bei der Absicht, jemanden zu erschrecken

Where the eye mixes bai and buh

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. bai (CVV) and buh (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
bai
3 ch
buh

Look-alike desk: bai vs buh

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bai is [bɛ] while buh is [buː]. 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 (adjective vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79292, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bai is recorded at frequency rank #36,213, classified as anadj, pronounced [bɛ]. buh is at rank #43,079, tagged as anintj, pronounced [buː].

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 79292, this pair ranks #219,629 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bai vs buh

Shared letters: b. Private to "bai": ai. Private to "buh": hu.

"bai" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "buh" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bai" for "buh" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bai" is an adjective and "buh" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "bai" or "buh" show up more?
"bai" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,213 in our German list, against #43,079 for "buh". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "buh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #219,629 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bai" and "buh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bic vs buh". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #219,629 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