Which to use
“black” and “blau” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,330
- “black” frequency rank
- #1,871
- “blau” frequency rank
- 4201
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | black | blau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | schwarz | eine bunte Farbe, im Spektrum eine relativ kurzwellige Farbe zwischen grün und violett; Grundfarbe vieler Farbmodelle, insbesondere eine der drei Grundfarben des digitalen RGB-Farbraums |
Where the eye mixes black and blau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between black and blau
A purely visual mix-up. black ([blæk]) and blau ([blaʊ̯]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4201, 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]. blau is at rank #1,871, tagged as anadj, pronounced [blaʊ̯].
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 4201, this pair ranks #1,998,323 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of black vs blau
Shared letters: abl. Private to "black": ck. Private to "blau": u.
"black" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "blau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "black" and "blau" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "black" or "blau"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "black" and "blau" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "black" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "blau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,998,323 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "black" and "blau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bal vs blau". 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 #1,998,323 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.