bergevsBurkeTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#3,562
“berge” frequency rank
#23,070
“Burke” frequency rank
26632
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature berge Burke
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bergen Glasgefäß

Where the eye mixes berge and Burke

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

5 ch
berge
5 ch
Burke

Why the eye confuses berge with Burke

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: berge is [ˈbɛʁɡə] while Burke is [ˈbʊʁkə]. 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 26632, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

berge is recorded at frequency rank #3,562, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbɛʁɡə]. Burke is at rank #23,070, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbʊʁkə].

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 26632, this pair ranks #1,814,997 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of berge vs Burke

Shared letters: ber. Private to "berge": g. Private to "Burke": ku.

"berge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Burke" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bergebberge · begre · bereg · bergge · berrge · brege · ebrge
  • Burkebburke · bruke · bukre · burek · burkke · burrke · ubrke

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "berge" for "Burke" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "berge" is a verb and "Burke" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "berge" or "Burke"?
"berge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,562 in our German list, against #23,070 for "Burke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "berge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Burke" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,814,997 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "berge" and "Burke" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Birk vs Burke". 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 #1,814,997 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