buchenvsBuchsWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: buchen is a adjective, Buchs is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“buchen” is an adjective and “Buchs” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,167
“buchen” frequency rank
#18,501
“Buchs” frequency rank
24668
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature buchen Buchs
Definition aus Buchenholz (bestehend, gemacht) immergrünes Zier- und Nutzgehölz (Buxus sempervirens) aus der Familie der Buchsbaumgewächse (Buxaceae)

Where the eye mixes buchen and Buchs

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

6 ch
buchen
5 ch
Buchs

Look-alike desk: buchen vs Buchs

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: buchen is [ˈbuːxn̩] while Buchs is [bʊks]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24668, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

buchen is recorded at frequency rank #6,167, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈbuːxn̩]. 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 24668, this pair ranks #1,844,401 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of buchen vs Buchs

Shared letters: bchu. Private to "buchen": en. Private to "Buchs": s.

"buchen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Buchs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • buchenbbuchen · bcuhen · bucchen · bucehn · buchenn · buchhen · buchne · buhcen
  • Buchsbbuchs · bcuhs · bucchs · buchhs · buchss · buhcs · ubchs

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "buchen" and "Buchs" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "buchen" is an adjective and "Buchs" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "buchen" or "Buchs" show up more?
"buchen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,167 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 "buchen" 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 #1,844,401 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "buchen" 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 #1,844,401 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