bastavsBasteiWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: basta is a intj, Bastei is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“basta” is an intj and “Bastei” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,545
“basta” frequency rank
#47,980
“Bastei” frequency rank
76525
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature basta Bastei
Definition es reicht; es ist genug! vorspringendes Bollwerk an Festungen und Burgen

Where the eye mixes basta and Bastei

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. basta runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Bastei's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
basta
6 ch
Bastei

Look-alike desk: basta vs Bastei

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: basta is [ˈbasta] while Bastei is [basˈtaɪ̯]. 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 (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76525, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

basta is recorded at frequency rank #28,545, classified as anintj, pronounced [ˈbasta]. Bastei is at rank #47,980, tagged as anoun, pronounced [basˈtaɪ̯].

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 76525, this pair ranks #281,875 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of basta vs Bastei

Shared letters: abst. Private to "basta": -. Private to "Bastei": ei.

"basta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Bastei" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • basta ← absta · basat · bassta · bastta · batsa · bbasta · bsata
  • Bastei ← abstei · baseti · basstei · bastie · basttei · batsei · bbastei · bsatei

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "basta" for "Bastei" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "basta" is an intj and "Bastei" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "basta" or "Bastei"?
"basta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,545 in our German list, against #47,980 for "Bastei". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "basta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bastei" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #281,875 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "basta" and "Bastei" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bastei vs Bastler". 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 #281,875 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