blödenvsbrokenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,110
“blöden” frequency rank
#25,482
“broken” frequency rank
38592
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature blöden broken
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs blöde zerbrochen, kaputt, defekt, beschädigt

Where the eye mixes blöden and broken

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

6 ch
blöden
6 ch
broken

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. blöden ([ˈbløːdn̩]) and broken ([ˈbrəʊkən]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38592, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

blöden is recorded at frequency rank #13,110, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbløːdn̩]. broken is at rank #25,482, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈbrəʊkən].

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 38592, this pair ranks #1,559,905 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of blöden vs broken

Shared letters: ben. Private to "blöden": dlö. Private to "broken": kor.

"blöden" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "broken" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • brokenbbroken · brkoen · broekn · brokenn · brokken · brokne · brroken · rboken

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "blöden" and "broken" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbløːdn̩] versus [ˈbrəʊkən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "blöden" or "broken"?
"blöden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,110 in our German list, against #25,482 for "broken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list