BohnenvsborgenConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#9,161
“Bohnen” frequency rank
#46,534
“borgen” frequency rank
55695
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bohnen borgen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Bohne leihen, verleihen, etwas gegen Versprechen hergeben, jemandem vorübergehend etwas geben

Where the eye mixes Bohnen and borgen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Bohnen
6 ch
borgen

Visual trap between Bohnen and borgen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Bohnen is [ˈboːnən] while borgen is [ˈbɔʁɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55695, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bohnen is recorded at frequency rank #9,161, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈboːnən]. borgen is at rank #46,534, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbɔʁɡn̩].

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 55695, this pair ranks #969,481 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Bohnen vs borgen

Shared letters: beno. Private to "Bohnen": h. Private to "borgen": gr.

"Bohnen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "borgen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bohnenbbohnen · bhonen · bohenn · bohhnen · bohnenn · bohnne · bohnnen · bonhen
  • borgenbborgen · bogren · boregn · borgenn · borggen · borgne · borrgen · brogen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Bohnen" and "borgen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Bohnen" is a noun and "borgen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Bohnen" vs "borgen" - which ranks higher?
"Bohnen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,161 in our German list, against #46,534 for "borgen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Bohnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "borgen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #969,481 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Bohnen" and "borgen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "borgen vs Borneo". 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 #969,481 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