Which to use
“bilde” is a verb and “blöde” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,249
- “bilde” frequency rank
- #5,919
- “blöde” frequency rank
- 18168
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bilde | blöde |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bilden | auf sehr niedrigem geistigen Niveau |
Where the eye mixes bilde and blöde
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between bilde and blöde
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bilde is [ˈbɪldə] while blöde is [ˈbløːdə]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18168, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bilde is recorded at frequency rank #12,249, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbɪldə]. blöde is at rank #5,919, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈbløːdə].
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 18168, this pair ranks #1,920,780 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bilde vs blöde
Shared letters: bdel. Private to "bilde": i. Private to "blöde": ö.
"bilde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "blöde" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- bilde ← bbilde · bidle · bildde · biled · billde · blide · iblde
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bilde" for "blöde" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bilde" vs "blöde" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bilde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "blöde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,920,780 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bilde" and "blöde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bilde vs bills". 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 #1,920,780 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.