barthvsbastWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“barth” and “bast” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#33,945
“barth” frequency rank
#47,486
“bast” frequency rank
81431
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature barth bast
Definition A place of shelter for cattle. Inner bark of a tree from which rope is traditionally made.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set barth and bast apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
barth
4 ch
bast

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. barth (/bɑː(ɹ)θ/) and bast (/bɑːst/) 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 81431, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

barth is recorded at frequency rank #33,945, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɑː(ɹ)θ/. bast is at rank #47,486, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɑːst/.

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 81431, this pair ranks #17,703 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of barth vs bast

Shared letters: abt. Private to "barth": hr. Private to "bast": s.

"barth" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "bast" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • barthabrth · barht · barrth · barthh · bartth · batrh · bbarth · brath
  • bastabst · basst · bastt · bbast · bsat

Frequency comparison

barth#33,945
bast#47,486

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "barth" and "bast" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/bɑː(ɹ)θ/ versus /bɑːst/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "barth" or "bast"?
"barth" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,945 in our English list, against #47,486 for "bast". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering barth vs bast

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “barth” 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