bargvsBugWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#46,504
“barg” frequency rank
#10,831
“Bug” frequency rank
57335
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature barg Bug
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs bergen Schiffsvorderteil, Flugzeugvorderteil

Where the eye mixes barg and Bug

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
barg
3 ch
Bug

Visual trap between barg and Bug

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: barg is [baʁk] while Bug is [buːk]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57335, 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]. Bug is at rank #10,831, tagged as anoun, pronounced [buːk].

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 57335, this pair ranks #905,246 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of barg vs Bug

Shared letters: bg. Private to "barg": ar. Private to "Bug": u.

"barg" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Bug" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bargabrg · bagr · bargg · barrg · bbarg · brag

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "barg" for "Bug" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "barg" is a verb and "Bug" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "barg" or "Bug" show up more?
"Bug" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,831 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 "barg" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bug" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #905,246 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "barg" and "Bug" 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 #905,246 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