Bert is the tall, thin one with the unibrow and striped turtleneck, and Ernie is the shorter, rounder one with the wide grin and horizontal–striped sweater.

How to tell them apart

  • Bert has a long oval head, a single thick eyebrow, and usually seems more serious or grumpy.
  • Ernie has a rounder head, separate eyebrows, and a more playful, mischievous expression.
  • Bert’s outfit is typically a vertical-striped turtleneck with a green jacket, while Ernie wears a bright horizontal–striped sweater with a red collar.

Quick visual memory tricks

  • Think of Bert as the “tall, tidy, type-A” roommate who likes order, pigeons, and paperclips.
  • Think of Ernie as the “short, chaotic, bath-toy” roommate who loves rubber duckies and practical jokes.

If you’re looking at a meme or screenshot: tall + unibrow = Bert; round face

  • big smile = Ernie.

TL;DR: Tall, thin, unibrow = Bert ; shorter, round, big smile = Ernie.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.