bastelnvsBastionConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#8,988
“basteln” frequency rank
#30,464
“Bastion” frequency rank
39452
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature basteln Bastion
Definition sich mit kleinen Handwerksarbeiten (zumeist aus Papier, Pappe oder einem anderen Material) aus Liebhaberei beschäftigen auch vorgezogener Verteidigungspunkt einer Festung

Where the eye mixes basteln and Bastion

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. basteln (CVCCVCC) and Bastion (CVCCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
basteln
7 ch
Bastion

Visual trap between basteln and Bastion

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: basteln is [ˈbastl̩n] while Bastion is [basˈti̯oːn]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39452, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

basteln is recorded at frequency rank #8,988, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbastl̩n]. Bastion is at rank #30,464, tagged as anoun, pronounced [basˈti̯oːn].

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 39452, this pair ranks #1,536,404 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of basteln vs Bastion

Shared letters: abnst. Private to "basteln": el. Private to "Bastion": io.

"basteln" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "Bastion" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • basteln ← absteln · basetln · bassteln · bastelln · bastelnn · bastenl · bastlen · bastteln
  • Bastion ← abstion · basiton · basstion · bastino · bastionn · bastoin · basttion · batsion

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "basteln" and "Bastion" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "basteln" is a verb and "Bastion" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "basteln" or "Bastion"?
"basteln" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,988 in our German list, against #30,464 for "Bastion". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "basteln" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bastion" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,536,404 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "basteln" and "Bastion" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bastion vs Bestien". 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 #1,536,404 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