BASICvsBasisTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,773
“BASIC” frequency rank
#1,345
“Basis” frequency rank
15118
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature BASIC Basis
Definition eine einfache Programmiersprache Grundlage

Where the eye mixes BASIC and Basis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
BASIC
5 ch
Basis

Look-alike desk: BASIC vs Basis

A purely visual mix-up. BASIC ([ˈbɛɪ̯sɪk]) and Basis ([ˈbaːzɪs]) 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 a single letter - c in “BASIC” becomes s in “Basis”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15118, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

BASIC is recorded at frequency rank #13,773, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbɛɪ̯sɪk]. 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 15118, this pair ranks #1,946,245 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of BASIC vs Basis

Shared letters: abis. Private to "BASIC": c. Private to "Basis": -.

"BASIC" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Basis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • BASICabsic · baisc · basci · basicc · bassic · bbasic · bsaic
  • Basisabsis · baiss · basiss · bassi · bassis · bbasis · bsais

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "BASIC" and "Basis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbɛɪ̯sɪk] versus [ˈbaːzɪs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "BASIC" or "Basis"?
"Basis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,345 in our German list, against #13,773 for "BASIC". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "BASIC" 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 #1,946,245 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "BASIC" and "Basis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "BASIC vs bic". 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 #1,946,245 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