BänkevsbrakeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#21,561
“Bänke” frequency rank
#36,847
“brake” frequency rank
58408
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bänke brake
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Bank Vorrichtung, um ein Fahrzeug zu Verlangsamen oder zum Halten zu bringen

Where the eye mixes Bänke and brake

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Bänke (CVCCV) and brake (CCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
Bänke
5 ch
brake

Why the eye confuses Bänke with brake

A purely visual mix-up. Bänke ([ˈbɛŋkə]) and brake ([bɹeɪk]) 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 58408, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bänke is recorded at frequency rank #21,561, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbɛŋkə]. brake is at rank #36,847, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bɹeɪk].

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 58408, this pair ranks #863,920 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Bänke vs brake

Shared letters: bek. Private to "Bänke": . Private to "brake": ar.

"Bänke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "brake" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • brakebarke · bbrake · brakke · brkae · brrake · rbake

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Bänke" and "brake" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbɛŋkə] versus [bɹeɪk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Bänke" or "brake"?
"Bänke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,561 in our German list, against #36,847 for "brake". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Bänke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "brake" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #863,920 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Bänke" and "brake" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "brake vs bryce". 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 #863,920 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