bockvsbrickWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“bock” and “brick” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#33,145
“bock” frequency rank
#24,886
“brick” frequency rank
58031
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bock brick
Definition Verre à bière de la capacité d’un quart de litre environ dont on se sert dans les brasseries et les cafés. Voilier à deux mâts gréés à voiles carrées et portant des hunes à l’extrémité des bas-mâts.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
bock
5 ch
brick

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. bock (\bɔk\) and brick (\bʁik\) 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 58031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bock is recorded at frequency rank #33,145, classified as anoun, pronounced \bɔk\. brick is at rank #24,886, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bʁik\.

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 58031, this pair ranks #111,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bock vs brick

Shared letters: bck. Private to "bock": o. Private to "brick": ir.

"bock" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "brick" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bockbbock · bcok · bocck · bockk · bokc · obck
  • brickbbrick · birck · brcik · bricck · brickk · brikc · brrick · rbick

Frequency comparison

bock#33,145
brick#24,886

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bock" and "brick" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\bɔk\ versus \bʁik\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bock" or "brick"?
"brick" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,886 in our French list, against #33,145 for "bock". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering bock vs brick

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 “bock” 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