baresvsbargWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: bares is a adjective, barg is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bares” is an adjective and “barg” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,894
“bares” frequency rank
#46,504
“barg” frequency rank
68398
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bares barg
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs bar 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs bergen

Where the eye mixes bares and barg

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

5 ch
bares
4 ch
barg

Visual trap between bares and barg

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bares is [ˈbaːʁəs] while barg is [baʁk]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 68398, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bares is recorded at frequency rank #21,894, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbaːʁəs]. 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 68398, this pair ranks #509,061 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bares vs barg

Shared letters: abr. Private to "bares": es. Private to "barg": g.

"bares" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "barg" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • baresabres · baers · baress · barres · barse · bbares · braes
  • bargabrg · bagr · bargg · barrg · bbarg · brag

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bares" for "barg" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bares" is an adjective and "barg" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bares" or "barg"?
"bares" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,894 in our German list, against #46,504 for "barg". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bares" 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 #509,061 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bares" 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 #509,061 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