BärenvsBogenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,531
“Bären” frequency rank
#4,869
“Bogen” frequency rank
13400
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bären Bogen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Bär gekrümmte, in der Regel mathematisch beschreibbare Linie, Kurve

Where the eye mixes Bären and Bogen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Bären
5 ch
Bogen

Look-alike desk: Bären vs Bogen

A purely visual mix-up. Bären ([ˈbɛːʁən]) and Bogen ([ˈboːɡn̩]) 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 13400, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bären is recorded at frequency rank #8,531, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbɛːʁən]. Bogen is at rank #4,869, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈboːɡn̩].

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 13400, this pair ranks #1,958,243 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Bären vs Bogen

Shared letters: ben. Private to "Bären": . Private to "Bogen": go.

"Bären" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Bogen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bogenbbogen · bgoen · boegn · bogenn · boggen · bogne · obgen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Bären" for "Bogen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbɛːʁən] versus [ˈboːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Bären" or "Bogen" show up more?
"Bogen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,869 in our German list, against #8,531 for "Bären". 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 "Bären" and "Bogen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Bären" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bogen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,958,243 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Bären" and "Bogen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bären vs Brenz". 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 #1,958,243 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