Which to use
“bal” and “bath” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,978
- “bal” frequency rank
- #32,434
- “bath” frequency rank
- 80412
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bal | bath |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | von Honigbienen hergestelltes Produkt aus Nektar oder Pflanzenlaussekreten und Speichel, das der Nahrungsversorgung dient; Honig | Bad (Tätigkeit) |
Where the eye mixes bal and bath
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. bal runs 3 letters (CVC) against bath's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: bal vs bath
A purely visual mix-up. bal ([bɑɫ]) and bath ([bɑːθ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80412, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bal is recorded at frequency rank #47,978, classified as anoun, pronounced [bɑɫ]. bath is at rank #32,434, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bɑːθ].
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 80412, this pair ranks #196,147 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bal vs bath
Shared letters: ab. Private to "bal": l. Private to "bath": ht.
"bal" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "bath" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bath ← abth · baht · bathh · batth · bbath · btah
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bal" for "bath" ever safe?
Which is more common, "bal" or "bath"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "bal" and "bath" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bath" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #196,147 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bal" and "bath" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bal vs bic". 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 #196,147 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.