BruchvsBuchsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Bruch” and “Buchs” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,401
“Bruch” frequency rank
#18,501
“Buchs” frequency rank
24902
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bruch Buchs
Definition das körperliche Brechen, Zertrennen eines Gegenstandes; Materials; der Ort des Brechens; ein Auseinandergehen, Trennen im weitesten Sinne von Gegenständen, Materialien, Verbindungen, Zusammenschlüssen immergrünes Zier- und Nutzgehölz (Buxus sempervirens) aus der Familie der Buchsbaumgewächse (Buxaceae)

Where the eye mixes Bruch and Buchs

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Bruch
5 ch
Buchs

Look-alike desk: Bruch vs Buchs

A purely visual mix-up. Bruch ([bʁʊx]) and Buchs ([bʊks]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24902, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bruch is recorded at frequency rank #6,401, classified as anoun, pronounced [bʁʊx]. Buchs is at rank #18,501, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bʊks].

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 24902, this pair ranks #1,840,979 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Bruch vs Buchs

Shared letters: bchu. Private to "Bruch": r. Private to "Buchs": s.

"Bruch" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "Buchs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bruchbbruch · brcuh · brruch · brucch · bruchh · bruhc · burch · rbuch
  • Buchsbbuchs · bcuhs · bucchs · buchhs · buchss · buhcs · ubchs

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Bruch" and "Buchs" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bʁʊx] versus [bʊks]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Bruch" or "Buchs" show up more?
"Bruch" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,401 in our German list, against #18,501 for "Buchs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Bruch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Buchs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,840,979 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Bruch" and "Buchs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Baches vs Buchs". 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 #1,840,979 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list