BannvsBärWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,152
“Bann” frequency rank
#7,023
“Bär” frequency rank
16175
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bann Bär
Definition Ausweisung einer Person oder einer Gruppe aus einer Gemeinschaft, insbesondere aus der Kirche Tier (Raubtier, Säugetier) aus der Familie Ursidae

Where the eye mixes Bann and Bär

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

4 ch
Bann
3 ch
Bär

Visual trap between Bann and Bär

A purely visual mix-up. Bann ([ban]) and Bär ([bɛːɐ̯]) 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 16175, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bann is recorded at frequency rank #9,152, classified as anoun, pronounced [ban]. Bär is at rank #7,023, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bɛːɐ̯].

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 16175, this pair ranks #1,937,956 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Bann vs Bär

Shared letters: b. Private to "Bann": an. Private to "Bär": .

"Bann" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Bär" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bannabnn · ban · bbann · bnan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Bann" for "Bär" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ban] versus [bɛːɐ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Bann" or "Bär"?
"Bär" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,023 in our German list, against #9,152 for "Bann". 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 "Bann" and "Bär" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Bann" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bär" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,937,956 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Bann" and "Bär" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bann vs brun". 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 #1,937,956 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