bauenvsbeenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,315
“bauen” frequency rank
#14,246
“been” frequency rank
15561
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bauen been
Definition etwas errichten, herstellen (Gebäude, Straßen und Ähnliches) Past Participle des Verbs be

Where the eye mixes bauen and been

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

5 ch
bauen
4 ch
been

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. bauen ([ˈbaʊ̯ən]) and been ([bɪn]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15561, 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]. been is at rank #14,246, tagged as averb, pronounced [bɪn].

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 15561, this pair ranks #1,942,888 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bauen vs been

Shared letters: ben. Private to "bauen": au. Private to "been": -.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bauenabuen · baeun · bauenn · baune · bbauen · buaen
  • beenbbeen · beenn · ben

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bauen" and "been" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbaʊ̯ən] versus [bɪn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bauen" or "been"?
"bauen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,315 in our German list, against #14,246 for "been". 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