beugenvsBubenWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#14,523
“beugen” frequency rank
#14,531
“Buben” frequency rank
29054
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beugen Buben
Definition biegen, krümmen Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Bub

Where the eye mixes beugen and Buben

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

6 ch
beugen
5 ch
Buben

Look-alike desk: beugen vs Buben

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: beugen is [ˈbɔɪ̯ɡn̩] while Buben is [ˈbuːbn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 29054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beugen is recorded at frequency rank #14,523, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbɔɪ̯ɡn̩]. Buben is at rank #14,531, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbuːbn̩].

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 29054, this pair ranks #1,773,896 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beugen vs Buben

Shared letters: benu. Private to "beugen": g. Private to "Buben": -.

"beugen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Buben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beugenbbeugen · beguen · beuegn · beugenn · beuggen · beugne · buegen · ebugen
  • Bubenbbuben · bbuen · bubben · bubenn · bubne · buebn · ubben

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "beugen" and "Buben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "beugen" is a verb and "Buben" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "beugen" vs "Buben" - which ranks higher?
"beugen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,523 in our German list, against #14,531 for "Buben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "beugen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Buben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,773,896 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beugen" and "Buben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Blusen vs Buben". 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 #1,773,896 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