bauschvsbushWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#40,416
“bausch” frequency rank
#9,342
“bush” frequency rank
49758
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bausch bush
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bauschen der Busch, der Strauch, das Gebüsch

Where the eye mixes bausch and bush

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
bausch
4 ch
bush

Why the eye confuses bausch with bush

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bausch is [baʊ̯ʃ] while bush is [bʊʃ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 49758, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bausch is recorded at frequency rank #40,416, classified as averb, pronounced [baʊ̯ʃ]. bush is at rank #9,342, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bʊʃ].

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 49758, this pair ranks #1,199,469 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bausch vs bush

Shared letters: bhsu. Private to "bausch": ac. Private to "bush": -.

"bausch" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC  ·  "bush" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bauschabusch · basuch · baucsh · bauscch · bauschh · baushc · baussch · bbausch
  • bushbbush · bsuh · buhs · bushh · bussh · ubsh

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bausch" and "bush" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bausch" is a verb and "bush" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "bausch" or "bush" show up more?
"bush" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,342 in our German list, against #40,416 for "bausch". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bausch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bush" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,199,469 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bausch" and "bush" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bausch vs bisch". 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 #1,199,469 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