Which to use
“brain” and “Brei” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,241
- “brain” frequency rank
- #15,320
- “Brei” frequency rank
- 32561
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | brain | Brei |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | das Gehirn, zentraler Teil des menschlichen Nervensystems | dickflüssige gekochte Speise |
Where the eye mixes brain and Brei
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses brain with Brei
A purely visual mix-up. brain ([bɹeɪn]) and Brei ([bʁaɪ̯]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32561, 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]. Brei is at rank #15,320, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bʁaɪ̯].
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 32561, this pair ranks #1,705,038 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of brain vs Brei
Shared letters: bir. Private to "brain": an. Private to "Brei": e.
"brain" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "Brei" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "brain" for "Brei" ever safe?
Frequency check: "brain" vs "Brei" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
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 "Brei" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,705,038 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "brain" and "Brei" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "brain vs Brauns". 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 #1,705,038 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.