BorstenvsBrüstenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#33,489
“Borsten” frequency rank
#19,172
“Brüsten” frequency rank
52661
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Borsten Brüsten
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Borste Dativ Plural des Substantivs Brust

Where the eye mixes Borsten and Brüsten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Borsten
7 ch
Brüsten

Why the eye confuses Borsten with Brüsten

A purely visual mix-up. Borsten ([ˈbɔʁstn̩]) and Brüsten ([ˈbʁʏstn̩]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52661, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Borsten is recorded at frequency rank #33,489, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbɔʁstn̩]. Brüsten is at rank #19,172, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbʁʏstn̩].

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 52661, this pair ranks #1,088,167 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Borsten vs Brüsten

Shared letters: benrst. Private to "Borsten": o. Private to "Brüsten": ü.

"Borsten" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "Brüsten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Borstenbborsten · borrsten · borsetn · borssten · borstenn · borstne · borstten · bortsen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Borsten" and "Brüsten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbɔʁstn̩] versus [ˈbʁʏstn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Borsten" vs "Brüsten" - which ranks higher?
"Brüsten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,172 in our German list, against #33,489 for "Borsten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Borsten" and "Brüsten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Borsten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Brüsten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,088,167 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Borsten" and "Brüsten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "borgen vs Borsten". 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 #1,088,167 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