Which to use
“Brauch” is a noun and “brauche” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,759
- “Brauch” frequency rank
- #1,470
- “brauche” frequency rank
- 4229
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Brauch | brauche |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | übliche oder traditionelle Verhaltensweise in einer Gesellschaft | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs brauchen |
Where the eye mixes Brauch and brauche
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Brauch with brauche
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Brauch is [bʁaʊ̯x] while brauche is [ˈbʁaʊ̯xə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Brauch” sits inside “brauche”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Brauch is recorded at frequency rank #2,759, classified as anoun, pronounced [bʁaʊ̯x]. brauche is at rank #1,470, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbʁaʊ̯xə].
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 4229, this pair ranks #1,998,237 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Brauch vs brauche
Shared letters: abchru. Private to "Brauch": -. Private to "brauche": e.
"Brauch" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "brauche" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Brauch" for "brauche" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Brauch" or "brauche" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Brauch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "brauche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,998,237 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Brauch" and "brauche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Brauch 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 #1,998,237 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.