BankvsbanksWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,050
“Bank” frequency rank
#21,539
“banks” frequency rank
22589
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bank banks
Definition Sitz- oder Ablagegelegenheit für mehrere Personen oder Dinge nebeneinander Plural des Substantivs bank

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Bank and banks apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Bank
5 ch
banks

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Bank ([baŋk]) and banks ([bæŋks]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Bank” sits inside “banks”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22589, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bank is recorded at frequency rank #1,050, classified as anoun, pronounced [baŋk]. banks is at rank #21,539, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bæŋks].

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 22589, this pair ranks #1,872,337 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Bank vs banks

Shared letters: abkn. Private to "Bank": -. Private to "banks": s.

"Bank" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "banks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bankabnk · bakn · bankk · bannk · bbank · bnak
  • banksabnks · bakns · bankks · bankss · bannks · bansk · bbanks · bnaks

Frequency comparison

Bank#1,050
banks#21,539

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Bank" and "banks" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([baŋk] versus [bæŋks]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Bank" or "banks"?
"Bank" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,050 in our German list, against #21,539 for "banks". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Bank vs banks

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Bank” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list