BürdevsBürgenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#33,507
“Bürde” frequency rank
#31,487
“Bürgen” frequency rank
64994
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bürde Bürgen
Definition Last mit hohem Gewicht Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Bürge

Where the eye mixes Bürde and Bürgen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Bürde runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Bürgen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Bürde
6 ch
Bürgen

Why the eye confuses Bürde with Bürgen

A purely visual mix-up. Bürde ([ˈbʏʁdə]) and Bürgen ([ˈbʏʁɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64994, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bürde is recorded at frequency rank #33,507, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbʏʁdə]. Bürgen is at rank #31,487, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbʏʁɡn̩].

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 64994, this pair ranks #622,194 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Bürde vs Bürgen

Shared letters: berü. Private to "Bürde": d. Private to "Bürgen": gn.

"Bürde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Bürgen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Bürde" and "Bürgen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbʏʁdə] versus [ˈbʏʁɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Bürde" vs "Bürgen" - which ranks higher?
"Bürgen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,487 in our German list, against #33,507 for "Bürde". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Bürde" and "Bürgen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Bürde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bürgen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #622,194 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Bürde" and "Bürgen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "borgen vs Bürgen". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #622,194 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