baresvsbauenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#21,894
“bares” frequency rank
#1,315
“bauen” frequency rank
23209
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bares bauen
Definition Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs bar etwas errichten, herstellen (Gebäude, Straßen und Ähnliches)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bares and bauen apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
bares
5 ch
bauen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bares is [ˈbaːʁəs] while bauen is [ˈbaʊ̯ən]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23209, 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]. bauen is at rank #1,315, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbaʊ̯ən].

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 23209, this pair ranks #1,864,330 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bares vs bauen

Shared letters: abe. Private to "bares": rs. Private to "bauen": nu.

"bares" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "bauen" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • baresabres · baers · baress · barres · barse · bbares · braes
  • bauenabuen · baeun · bauenn · baune · bbauen · buaen

Frequency comparison

bares#21,894
bauen#1,315

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bares" and "bauen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bares" is an adjective and "bauen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bares" or "bauen"?
"bauen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,315 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.

Remembering bares vs bauen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “bares”; for a verb, it's “bauen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “bares” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list