BauervsBauernWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,022
“Bauer” frequency rank
#3,104
“Bauern” frequency rank
6126
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bauer Bauern
Definition jemand, der Ackerbau oder Viehhaltung betreibt Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Bauer

Where the eye mixes Bauer and Bauern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Bauer
6 ch
Bauern

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Bauer ([ˈbaʊ̯ɐ]) and Bauern ([ˈbaʊ̯ɐn]) 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 extra letter(s) - “Bauer” sits inside “Bauern”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6126, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bauer is recorded at frequency rank #3,022, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbaʊ̯ɐ]. Bauern is at rank #3,104, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbaʊ̯ɐn].

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 6126, this pair ranks #1,992,634 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Bauer vs Bauern

Shared letters: aberu. Private to "Bauer": -. Private to "Bauern": n.

"Bauer" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC  ·  "Bauern" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bauerabuer · baeur · bauerr · baure · bbauer · buaer
  • Bauernabuern · baeurn · bauenr · bauernn · bauerrn · bauren · bbauern · buaern

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Bauer" and "Bauern" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbaʊ̯ɐ] versus [ˈbaʊ̯ɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Bauer" or "Bauern"?
"Bauer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,022 in our German list, against #3,104 for "Bauern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "Bauer" and "Bauern". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Bauer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bauern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,992,634 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Bauer" and "Bauern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bauern vs Bauers". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list