Which to use
“bannen” and “barmen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,543
- “bannen” frequency rank
- #41,676
- “barmen” frequency rank
- 70219
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bannen | barmen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas Unerwünschtes fernhalten | jemandes Mitgefühl, Mitleid erregen |
Where the eye mixes bannen and barmen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. bannen and barmen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses bannen with barmen
A purely visual mix-up. bannen ([ˈbanən]) and barmen ([ˈbaʁmən]) 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 70219, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bannen is recorded at frequency rank #28,543, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbanən]. barmen is at rank #41,676, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbaʁmən].
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 70219, this pair ranks #452,920 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bannen vs barmen
Shared letters: aben. Private to "bannen": -. Private to "barmen": mr.
"bannen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "barmen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bannen" for "barmen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "bannen" or "barmen"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "bannen" and "barmen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bannen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "barmen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #452,920 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bannen" and "barmen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "barley vs barmen". 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 #452,920 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.