Which to use
“broken” is an adjective and “bücken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,482
- “broken” frequency rank
- #32,980
- “bücken” frequency rank
- 58462
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | broken | bücken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | zerbrochen, kaputt, defekt, beschädigt | den Oberkörper tief in Richtung Boden beugen |
Where the eye mixes broken and bücken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between broken and bücken
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: broken is [ˈbrəʊkən] while bücken is [ˈbʏkn̩]. 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 58462, 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]. bücken is at rank #32,980, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbʏkn̩].
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 58462, this pair ranks #861,856 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of broken vs bücken
Shared letters: bekn. Private to "broken": or. Private to "bücken": cü.
"broken" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "bücken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- broken ← bbroken · brkoen · broekn · brokenn · brokken · brokne · brroken · rboken
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "broken" for "bücken" ever safe?
Which is more common, "broken" or "bücken"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "broken" and "bücken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "broken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bücken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #861,856 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "broken" and "bücken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bücken vs bucket". 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 #861,856 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.