Which to use
“break” is a verb and “brink” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #670
- “break” frequency rank
- #14,709
- “brink” frequency rank
- 15379
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | break | brink |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To separate into two or more pieces, to fracture or crack, by a process that cannot easily be reversed for reassembly. | The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge. |
Where the eye mixes break and brink
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: break is /bɹeɪk/ while brink is /bɹɪŋk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15379, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
break is recorded at frequency rank #670, classified as averb, pronounced /bɹeɪk/. brink is at rank #14,709, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɹɪŋk/.
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 15379, this pair ranks #464,295 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of break vs brink
Shared letters: bkr. Private to "break": ae. Private to "brink": in.
"break" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "brink" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC