Which to use
“break” is a verb and “bureau” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,619
- “break” frequency rank
- #20,541
- “bureau” frequency rank
- 32160
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | break | bureau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | brechen; kaputt gehen | ein spezieller Tisch, der Schreibtisch |
Where the eye mixes break and bureau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between break and bureau
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: break is [breɪk] while bureau is [ˈbyʀo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32160, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
break is recorded at frequency rank #11,619, classified as averb, pronounced [breɪk]. bureau is at rank #20,541, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbyʀo].
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 32160, this pair ranks #1,713,453 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of break vs bureau
Shared letters: aber. Private to "break": k. Private to "bureau": u.
"break" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "bureau" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "break" and "bureau" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "break" or "bureau" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "break" and "bureau" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "break" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bureau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,713,453 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "break" and "bureau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bread vs bureau". 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 #1,713,453 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.