Which to use
“broken” is an adjective and “brüten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,482
- “broken” frequency rank
- #32,973
- “brüten” frequency rank
- 58455
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | broken | brüten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | zerbrochen, kaputt, defekt, beschädigt | Eiern Wärme zuführen, um die Entwicklung des Nachwuchses zu gewährleisten |
Where the eye mixes broken and brüten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses broken with brüten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: broken is [ˈbrəʊkən] while brüten is [ˈbʁyːtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
broken is recorded at frequency rank #25,482, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbrəʊkən]. brüten is at rank #32,973, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbʁyːtn̩].
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 58455, this pair ranks #862,118 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of broken vs brüten
Shared letters: benr. Private to "broken": ko. Private to "brüten": tü.
"broken" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "brüten" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- broken ← bbroken · brkoen · broekn · brokenn · brokken · brokne · brroken · rboken
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "broken" for "brüten" ever safe?
Frequency check: "broken" vs "brüten" - 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 "broken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "brüten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #862,118 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "broken" and "brüten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Blusen vs brüten". 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 #862,118 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.