BaslervsbisherConfusable pair

Quick tell: Basler is a noun, bisher is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Basler” is a noun and “bisher” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,385
“Basler” frequency rank
#464
“bisher” frequency rank
11849
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Basler bisher
Definition Bewohner von Basel, jemand, der aus Basel stammt seit einem vergangenen Zeitpunkt bis zur Gegenwart

Where the eye mixes Basler and bisher

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

6 ch
Basler
6 ch
bisher

Why the eye confuses Basler with bisher

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Basler is [ˈbaːzlɐ] while bisher is [bɪsˈheːɐ̯]. 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 (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11849, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Basler is recorded at frequency rank #11,385, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbaːzlɐ]. bisher is at rank #464, tagged as anadv, pronounced [bɪsˈheːɐ̯].

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 11849, this pair ranks #1,967,571 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Basler vs bisher

Shared letters: bers. Private to "Basler": al. Private to "bisher": hi.

"Basler" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "bisher" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Baslerabsler · balser · baselr · baslerr · basller · baslre · bassler · bbasler
  • bisherbbisher · bihser · bisehr · bisherr · bishher · bishre · bissher · bsiher

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Basler" for "bisher" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Basler" is a noun and "bisher" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Basler" or "bisher"?
"bisher" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #464 in our German list, against #11,385 for "Basler". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Basler" and "bisher" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Basler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bisher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,967,571 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Basler" and "bisher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Basler vs boiler". 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 #1,967,571 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