BasaltvsbehältConfusable pair

Quick tell: Basalt is a noun, behält is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Basalt” is a noun and “behält” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,040
“Basalt” frequency rank
#8,031
“behält” frequency rank
51071
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Basalt behält
Definition dunkles, sehr hartes Gestein vulkanischen Ursprungs 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs behalten

Where the eye mixes Basalt and behält

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Basalt
6 ch
behält

Visual trap between Basalt and behält

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Basalt is [baˈzalt] while behält is [bəˈhɛlt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51071, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Basalt is recorded at frequency rank #43,040, classified as anoun, pronounced [baˈzalt]. behält is at rank #8,031, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈhɛlt].

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 51071, this pair ranks #1,149,629 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Basalt vs behält

Shared letters: blt. Private to "Basalt": as. Private to "behält": ehä.

"Basalt" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "behält" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Basaltabsalt · baaslt · basallt · basaltt · basatl · baslat · bassalt · bbasalt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Basalt" for "behält" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Basalt" is a noun and "behält" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Basalt" or "behält"?
"behält" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,031 in our German list, against #43,040 for "Basalt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Basalt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "behält" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,149,629 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Basalt" and "behält" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Basalt vs Bauamt". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,149,629 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list