bildevsBodeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: bilde is a verb, Bode is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bilde” is a verb and “Bode” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,249
“bilde” frequency rank
#19,526
“Bode” frequency rank
31775
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bilde Bode
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bilden Fluss in Deutschland, linker Nebenfluss der Saale

Where the eye mixes bilde and Bode

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

5 ch
bilde
4 ch
Bode

Visual trap between bilde and Bode

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bilde is [ˈbɪldə] while Bode is [ˈboːdə]. 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 name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31775, 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]. Bode is at rank #19,526, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈboːdə].

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 31775, this pair ranks #1,721,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bilde vs Bode

Shared letters: bde. Private to "bilde": il. Private to "Bode": o.

"bilde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Bode" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bildebbilde · bidle · bildde · biled · billde · blide · iblde
  • Bodebbode · bdoe · bodde · boed · obde

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bilde" for "Bode" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bilde" is a verb and "Bode" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "bilde" or "Bode" show up more?
"bilde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,249 in our German list, against #19,526 for "Bode". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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 "Bode" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,721,326 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bilde" and "Bode" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bode vs bodies". 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 #1,721,326 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