BohlenvsbohrenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Bohlen is a noun, bohren is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Bohlen” is a noun and “bohren” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,527
“Bohlen” frequency rank
#14,761
“bohren” frequency rank
34288
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bohlen bohren
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Bohle ein rundes Loch in etwas erzeugen, oftmals durch Herauslösen von Spänen mithilfe eines drehenden Werkzeugs

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Bohlen and bohren apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
Bohlen
6 ch
bohren

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Bohlen is [ˈboːlən] while bohren is [ˈboːʁən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “Bohlen” becomes r in “bohren”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34288, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bohlen is recorded at frequency rank #19,527, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈboːlən]. bohren is at rank #14,761, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈboːʁən].

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 34288, this pair ranks #1,666,736 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Bohlen vs bohren

Shared letters: behno. Private to "Bohlen": l. Private to "bohren": r.

"Bohlen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "bohren" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bohlenbbohlen · bholen · boheln · bohhlen · bohlenn · bohllen · bohlne · bolhen
  • bohrenbbohren · bhoren · bohern · bohhren · bohrenn · bohrne · bohrren · borhen

Frequency comparison

Bohlen#19,527
bohren#14,761

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Bohlen" and "bohren" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Bohlen" is a noun and "bohren" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Bohlen" or "bohren"?
"bohren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,761 in our German list, against #19,527 for "Bohlen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Bohlen vs bohren

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Bohlen”; for a verb, it's “bohren”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Bohlen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list