BienevsBierWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#16,376
“Biene” frequency rank
#1,282
“Bier” frequency rank
17658
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Biene Bier
Definition behaartes, fliegendes Insekt aus der Ordnung der Hautflügler; aus Hopfen, Malz und Wasser gebrautes (meistens) alkoholisches Getränk

Where the eye mixes Biene and Bier

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

5 ch
Biene
4 ch
Bier

Look-alike desk: Biene vs Bier

A purely visual mix-up. Biene ([ˈbiːnə]) and Bier ([biːɐ̯]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17658, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Biene is recorded at frequency rank #16,376, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbiːnə]. Bier is at rank #1,282, tagged as anoun, pronounced [biːɐ̯].

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 17658, this pair ranks #1,925,431 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Biene vs Bier

Shared letters: bei. Private to "Biene": n. Private to "Bier": r.

"Biene" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Bier" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bienebbiene · bieen · binee · ibene
  • Bierbbier · beir · bierr · bire · iber

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Biene" and "Bier" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbiːnə] versus [biːɐ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Biene" vs "Bier" - which ranks higher?
"Bier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,282 in our German list, against #16,376 for "Biene". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Biene" and "Bier" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Biene" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bier" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,925,431 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Biene" and "Bier" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Biene vs Brenz". 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 #1,925,431 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