baresvsBasisWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#21,894
“bares” frequency rank
#1,345
“Basis” frequency rank
23239
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bares Basis
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs bar Grundlage

Where the eye mixes bares and Basis

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

5 ch
bares
5 ch
Basis

Look-alike desk: bares vs Basis

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bares is [ˈbaːʁəs] while Basis is [ˈbaːzɪs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23239, 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]. Basis is at rank #1,345, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbaːzɪs].

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 23239, this pair ranks #1,863,900 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bares vs Basis

Shared letters: abs. Private to "bares": er. Private to "Basis": i.

"bares" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Basis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • baresabres · baers · baress · barres · barse · bbares · braes
  • Basisabsis · baiss · basiss · bassi · bassis · bbasis · bsais

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bares" and "Basis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bares" is an adjective and "Basis" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bares" or "Basis"?
"Basis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,345 in our German list, against #21,894 for "bares". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bares" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Basis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,863,900 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bares" and "Basis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bares vs Bauers". 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 #1,863,900 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