bauenvsBausWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,315
“bauen” frequency rank
#27,644
“Baus” frequency rank
28959
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bauen Baus
Definition etwas errichten, herstellen (Gebäude, Straßen und Ähnliches) Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Bau

Where the eye mixes bauen and Baus

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

5 ch
bauen
4 ch
Baus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bauen is [ˈbaʊ̯ən] while Baus is [baʊ̯s]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28959, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bauen is recorded at frequency rank #1,315, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbaʊ̯ən]. Baus is at rank #27,644, tagged as anoun, pronounced [baʊ̯s].

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 28959, this pair ranks #1,775,520 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bauen vs Baus

Shared letters: abu. Private to "bauen": en. Private to "Baus": s.

"bauen" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC  ·  "Baus" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bauenabuen · baeun · bauenn · baune · bbauen · buaen
  • Bausabus · basu · bauss · bbaus · buas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bauen" and "Baus" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bauen" is a verb and "Baus" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bauen" or "Baus"?
"bauen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,315 in our German list, against #27,644 for "Baus". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list