BienevsBirneConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#16,376
“Biene” frequency rank
#14,524
“Birne” frequency rank
30900
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Biene Birne
Definition behaartes, fliegendes Insekt aus der Ordnung der Hautflügler; Obstbaumart

Where the eye mixes Biene and Birne

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

5 ch
Biene
5 ch
Birne

Visual trap between Biene and Birne

A purely visual mix-up. Biene ([ˈbiːnə]) and Birne ([ˈbɪʁnə]) 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 a single letter - e in “Biene” becomes r in “Birne”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30900, 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]. Birne is at rank #14,524, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbɪʁnə].

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 30900, this pair ranks #1,738,871 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Biene vs Birne

Shared letters: bein. Private to "Biene": -. Private to "Birne": r.

"Biene" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Birne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bienebbiene · bieen · binee · ibene
  • Birnebbirne · binre · biren · birnne · birrne · brine · ibrne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Biene" and "Birne" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbiːnə] versus [ˈbɪʁnə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Biene" or "Birne"?
"Birne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,524 in our German list, against #16,376 for "Biene". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Biene" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Birne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,738,871 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Biene" and "Birne" 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 #1,738,871 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