BürovsbutWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Büro is a noun, but is a conjunction, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Büro” is a noun and “but” is a conjunction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,588
“Büro” frequency rank
#6,402
“but” frequency rank
7990
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Büro but
Definition Dienststelle oder Geschäftsräume, wo schriftliche oder verwaltende Arbeiten erledigt werden aber

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Büro and but apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Büro
3 ch
but

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Büro is [byˈʁoː] while but is [bʌt]. 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 (noun vs conjunction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Büro is recorded at frequency rank #1,588, classified as anoun, pronounced [byˈʁoː]. but is at rank #6,402, tagged as aconj, pronounced [bʌt].

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 7990, this pair ranks #1,986,048 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Büro vs but

Shared letters: b. Private to "Büro": orü. Private to "but": tu.

"Büro" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "but" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

Büro#1,588
but#6,402

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Büro" and "but" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Büro" is a noun and "but" a conjunction, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Büro" or "but"?
"Büro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,588 in our German list, against #6,402 for "but". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Büro vs but

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Büro”; for a conjunction, it's “but”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Büro” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list