Which to use
“bare” is an adjective and “barg” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,448
- “bare” frequency rank
- #46,504
- “barg” frequency rank
- 77952
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bare | barg |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs bar | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs bergen |
Where the eye mixes bare and barg
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. bare (CVCV) and barg (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses bare with barg
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bare is [ˈbaːʁə] while barg is [baʁk]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “bare” becomes g in “barg”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77952, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bare is recorded at frequency rank #31,448, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbaːʁə]. barg is at rank #46,504, tagged as averb, pronounced [baʁk].
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 77952, this pair ranks #249,143 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bare vs barg
Shared letters: abr. Private to "bare": e. Private to "barg": g.
"bare" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "barg" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bare" for "barg" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bare" vs "barg" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bare" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "barg" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #249,143 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bare" and "barg" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "barg vs Birk". 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 #249,143 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.