blackvsblasConfusable pair

Quick tell: black is a adjective, blas is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“black” is an adjective and “blas” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,330
“black” frequency rank
#32,964
“blas” frequency rank
35294
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature black blas
Definition schwarz 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs blasen

Where the eye mixes black and blas

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

5 ch
black
4 ch
blas

Look-alike desk: black vs blas

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: black is [blæk] while blas is [blaːs]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35294, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

black is recorded at frequency rank #2,330, classified as anadj, pronounced [blæk]. blas is at rank #32,964, tagged as averb, pronounced [blaːs].

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 35294, this pair ranks #1,643,387 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of black vs blas

Shared letters: abl. Private to "black": ck. Private to "blas": s.

"black" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "blas" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • blackbalck · bblack · blacck · blackk · blakc · blcak · bllack · lback
  • blasbblas · bllas · blsa · lbas

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "black" and "blas" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "black" is an adjective and "blas" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "black" vs "blas" - which ranks higher?
"black" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,330 in our German list, against #32,964 for "blas". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "black" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "blas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,643,387 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "black" and "blas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bims vs blas". 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 #1,643,387 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