BirkvsBitsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#48,009
“Birk” frequency rank
#26,787
“Bits” frequency rank
74796
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Birk Bits
Definition Nebenform von Birke Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Bit

Where the eye mixes Birk and Bits

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Birk
4 ch
Bits

Visual trap between Birk and Bits

A purely visual mix-up. Birk ([bɪʁk]) and Bits ([bɪt͡s]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74796, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Birk is recorded at frequency rank #48,009, classified as anoun, pronounced [bɪʁk]. Bits is at rank #26,787, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bɪt͡s].

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 74796, this pair ranks #324,210 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Birk vs Bits

Shared letters: bi. Private to "Birk": kr. Private to "Bits": st.

"Birk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Bits" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Birkbbirk · bikr · birkk · birrk · brik · ibrk
  • Bitsbbits · bitss · bitts · btis · ibts

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Birk" for "Bits" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bɪʁk] versus [bɪt͡s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Birk" or "Bits" show up more?
"Bits" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,787 in our German list, against #48,009 for "Birk". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Birk" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bits" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #324,210 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Birk" and "Bits" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bims vs Birk". 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 #324,210 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