brakevsBrauseWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#36,847
“brake” frequency rank
#42,384
“Brause” frequency rank
79231
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature brake Brause
Definition Vorrichtung, um ein Fahrzeug zu Verlangsamen oder zum Halten zu bringen Limonade mit Kohlensäure

Where the eye mixes brake and Brause

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. brake runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against Brause's 6 (CCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
brake
6 ch
Brause

Why the eye confuses brake with Brause

A purely visual mix-up. brake ([bɹeɪk]) and Brause ([ˈbʁaʊ̯zə]) 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 79231, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

brake is recorded at frequency rank #36,847, classified as anoun, pronounced [bɹeɪk]. Brause is at rank #42,384, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbʁaʊ̯zə].

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 79231, this pair ranks #220,944 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of brake vs Brause

Shared letters: aber. Private to "brake": k. Private to "Brause": su.

"brake" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Brause" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • brake ← barke · bbrake · brakke · brkae · brrake · rbake
  • Brause ← baruse · bbrause · brasue · braues · brausse · brrause · bruase · rbause

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "brake" and "Brause" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bɹeɪk] versus [ˈbʁaʊ̯zə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "brake" or "Brause"?
"brake" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,847 in our German list, against #42,384 for "Brause". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "brake" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Brause" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #220,944 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "brake" and "Brause" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Brauns vs Brause". 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 #220,944 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