BasevsBüsteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#9,509
“Base” frequency rank
#26,801
“Büste” frequency rank
36310
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Base Büste
Definition eine alkalisch reagierende chemische Verbindung, deren pH-Wert über 7 liegt; nimmt leicht Protonen (H⁺) auf plastisch gestaltetes Abbild einer Person bis zur Schulter oder als Halbfigur

Where the eye mixes Base and Büste

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

4 ch
Base
5 ch
Büste

Why the eye confuses Base with Büste

A purely visual mix-up. Base ([ˈbaːzə]) and Büste ([ˈbʏstə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36310, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Base is recorded at frequency rank #9,509, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbaːzə]. Büste is at rank #26,801, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbʏstə].

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 36310, this pair ranks #1,618,807 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Base vs Büste

Shared letters: bes. Private to "Base": a. Private to "Büste": .

"Base" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Büste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Baseabse · baes · basse · bbase · bsae

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Base" for "Büste" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbaːzə] versus [ˈbʏstə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Base" vs "Büste" - which ranks higher?
"Base" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,509 in our German list, against #26,801 for "Büste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Base" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Büste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,618,807 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Base" and "Büste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bussi vs Büste". 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 #1,618,807 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