bückenvsBussenWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: bücken is a verb, Bussen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bücken” is a verb and “Bussen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,980
“bücken” frequency rank
#14,262
“Bussen” frequency rank
47242
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bücken Bussen
Definition den Oberkörper tief in Richtung Boden beugen Dativ Plural des Substantivs Bus

Where the eye mixes bücken and Bussen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
bücken
6 ch
Bussen

Why the eye confuses bücken with Bussen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bücken is [ˈbʏkn̩] while Bussen is [ˈbʊsn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47242, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bücken is recorded at frequency rank #32,980, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbʏkn̩]. Bussen is at rank #14,262, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbʊsn̩].

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 47242, this pair ranks #1,291,273 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bücken vs Bussen

Shared letters: ben. Private to "bücken": ckü. Private to "Bussen": su.

"bücken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "Bussen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bussenbbussen · bsusen · busesn · bussenn · bussne · bußen · ubssen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bücken" and "Bussen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bücken" is a verb and "Bussen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "bücken" or "Bussen" show up more?
"Bussen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,262 in our German list, against #32,980 for "bücken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bücken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bussen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,291,273 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bücken" and "Bussen" 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 #1,291,273 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