but

[bʌt]

/[bʌt]/ conj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“but” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #6,402) as a conjunction. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#6,402
frequency rank, German
5,818
“B” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - aber

Corpus desk

Index DE-but · but · German

but · rank #6,402 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,402
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,818
  • PHOTO-FINISH Bruch

Nearest frequency peer: Bruch (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “but”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “but” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

but vs by
33% similar
but vs BVB
0% similar
but vs bye
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for but
PropertyValue
Headwordbut
LanguageGerman
Part of speechConjunction
IPA[bʌt]
Letters3
Frequency rank#6,402
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “but” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).butliegt hier:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „Bruch“ (#6,401), „Christopher“ (#6,403), „brown“ (#6,400). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for but is neighbouring look-alikes ("by", "BVB", …), not just typos; it is aconjunction pronounced [bʌt]. Frequency #6,402 among 5,818 “B” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for but, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "by", "BVB", "bye", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is but, spelled B-U-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    aber
  2. 2
    sondern

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how but appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. You told me I could do that but she said that I could not.
  2. He didn't do his homework but went to the cinema.

This word in other languages

mais(Français)

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 "but"?
"but" is spelled B-U-T. The IPA pronunciation is [bʌt].
What does "but" mean?
As a conjunction, "but" means: aber
What words are commonly confused with "but"?
"but" is commonly confused with "by", "BVB", "bye". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "but"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "but" is [bʌt]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "but" come from?
"but" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "but", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

vol#6,374NSU#6,456men#6,327BTW#6,282

What to do next

You've looked up "but". Here's where to go from here.

  • "but" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "by". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #6,402 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "B" letter cohort. B–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list