Which to use
“brain” and “brake” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,241
- “brain” frequency rank
- #36,847
- “brake” frequency rank
- 54088
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | brain | brake |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | das Gehirn, zentraler Teil des menschlichen Nervensystems | Vorrichtung, um ein Fahrzeug zu Verlangsamen oder zum Halten zu bringen |
Where the eye mixes brain and brake
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: brain vs brake
A purely visual mix-up. brain ([bɹeɪn]) and brake ([bɹeɪk]) 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 54088, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
brain is recorded at frequency rank #17,241, classified as anoun, pronounced [bɹeɪn]. brake is at rank #36,847, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bɹeɪk].
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 54088, this pair ranks #1,032,609 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of brain vs brake
Shared letters: abr. Private to "brain": in. Private to "brake": ek.
"brain" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "brake" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "brain" and "brake" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "brain" or "brake" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "brain" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "brake" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,032,609 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "brain" and "brake" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "brake vs bryce". 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 #1,032,609 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.