bargvsbautWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#46,504
“barg” frequency rank
#3,357
“baut” frequency rank
49861
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature barg baut
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs bergen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bauen

Where the eye mixes barg and baut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. barg (CVCC) and baut (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
barg
4 ch
baut

Visual trap between barg and baut

A purely visual mix-up. barg ([baʁk]) and baut ([baʊ̯t]) 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 49861, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

barg is recorded at frequency rank #46,504, classified as averb, pronounced [baʁk]. baut is at rank #3,357, tagged as averb, pronounced [baʊ̯t].

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 49861, this pair ranks #1,195,602 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of barg vs baut

Shared letters: ab. Private to "barg": gr. Private to "baut": tu.

"barg" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "baut" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bargabrg · bagr · bargg · barrg · bbarg · brag
  • bautabut · batu · bautt · bbaut · buat

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "barg" and "baut" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([baʁk] versus [baʊ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "barg" or "baut" show up more?
"baut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,357 in our German list, against #46,504 for "barg". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "barg" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "baut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,195,602 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "barg" and "baut" 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 #1,195,602 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