Which to use
“brake” is a noun and “break” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,847
- “brake” frequency rank
- #11,619
- “break” frequency rank
- 48466
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | brake | break |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vorrichtung, um ein Fahrzeug zu Verlangsamen oder zum Halten zu bringen | brechen; kaputt gehen |
Where the eye mixes brake and break
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between brake and break
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: brake is [bɹeɪk] while break is [breɪk]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48466, 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]. break is at rank #11,619, tagged as averb, pronounced [breɪk].
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 48466, this pair ranks #1,247,589 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of brake vs break
Shared letters: abekr. Private to "brake": -. Private to "break": -.
"brake" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "break" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "brake" and "break" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "brake" or "break" 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 "brake" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "break" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,247,589 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "brake" and "break" 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 #1,247,589 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.