BertavsbraConfusable pair

Quick tell: Berta is a name, bra is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Berta” is a name and “bra” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,094
“Berta” frequency rank
#38,655
“bra” frequency rank
66749
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Berta bra
Definition weiblicher Vorname; Berta, Bertha paariger Körperteil zwischen Rumpf und Hand; Arm

Where the eye mixes Berta and bra

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

5 ch
Berta
3 ch
bra

Look-alike desk: Berta vs bra

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Berta is [ˈbɛrta] while bra is [bɣa]. 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 (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Berta is recorded at frequency rank #28,094, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈbɛrta]. bra is at rank #38,655, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bɣa].

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 66749, this pair ranks #562,781 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Berta vs bra

Shared letters: abr. Private to "Berta": et. Private to "bra": -.

"Berta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "bra" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bertabberta · berat · berrta · bertta · betra · breta · ebrta

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Berta" for "bra" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Berta" is a name and "bra" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Berta" vs "bra" - which ranks higher?
"Berta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,094 in our German list, against #38,655 for "bra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Berta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #562,781 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Berta" and "bra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bic vs bra". 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 #562,781 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