Which to use
“bare” is an adjective and “be” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,448
- “bare” frequency rank
- #1,621
- “be” frequency rank
- 33069
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bare | be |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs bar | sein, existieren |
Where the eye mixes bare and be
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between bare and be
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bare is [ˈbaːʁə] while be is [biː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33069, 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]. be is at rank #1,621, tagged as averb, pronounced [biː].
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 33069, this pair ranks #1,693,955 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bare vs be
Shared letters: be. Private to "bare": ar. Private to "be": -.
"bare" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "be" · 2 letters · shape CV
Known mistypes of this pair
- bare ← barre · bbare · brae
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bare" for "be" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "bare" or "be" show up more?
What to do next
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 "be" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,693,955 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bare" and "be" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bare 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 #1,693,955 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.