Berlin
[bɛʁˈliːn]
The verdict
“Berlin” is in the everyday core of German, ranked #190 in German word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #190
- frequency rank, German
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - die Hauptstadt Deutschlands
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Berlin |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | [bɛʁˈliːn] |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #190 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Berlin” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for Berlin is 6 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [bɛʁˈliːn]. Corpus data places it at rank #190 in overall German word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Berlin, with forms such as "bberlin", "belrin", and "beriln". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "Bern", "brain", "beulen", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is Berlin, spelled B-E-R-L-I-N.
Definition
- 1die Hauptstadt Deutschlands
- 2ein Ballungsraum in Deutschland
- 3ein deutsches Bundesland, topografisch identisch mit [1]
- 4kurz für Berlin (West), Westberlin
- 5kurz für Berlin (Ost), Ostberlin
- 6Ortsteil der Gemeinde Seedorf im Kreis Segeberg, Schleswig-Holstein, Deutschland
- 7bis 1916 Name der Stadt Kitchener in Kanada
- 8mehrfache Toponyme „Berlin“
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bberlin,belrin,beriln,berlinn,berllin,berlni,berrlin,brelin,ebrlin
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Berlin - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "Berlin"?
What does "Berlin" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Berlin”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is B-E-R-L-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [bɛʁˈliːn] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Bern” - see the side-by-side comparison. Berlin vs Bern
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.