bautvsbebautWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“baut” and “bebaut” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#3,357
“baut” frequency rank
#27,210
“bebaut” frequency rank
30567
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baut bebaut
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bauen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs bebauen

Where the eye mixes baut and bebaut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
baut
6 ch
bebaut

Why the eye confuses baut with bebaut

A purely visual mix-up. baut ([baʊ̯t]) and bebaut ([bəˈbaʊ̯t]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “baut” sits inside “bebaut”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30567, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

baut is recorded at frequency rank #3,357, classified as averb, pronounced [baʊ̯t]. bebaut is at rank #27,210, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈbaʊ̯t].

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 30567, this pair ranks #1,745,271 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of baut vs bebaut

Shared letters: abtu. Private to "baut": -. Private to "bebaut": e.

"baut" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "bebaut" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bautabut · batu · bautt · bbaut · buat
  • bebautbbeaut · bbebaut · beabut · bebatu · bebautt · bebbaut · bebuat · ebbaut

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "baut" and "bebaut" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([baʊ̯t] versus [bəˈbaʊ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "baut" vs "bebaut" - which ranks higher?
"baut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,357 in our German list, against #27,210 for "bebaut". 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 "baut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bebaut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,745,271 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "baut" and "bebaut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bebaut vs bebt". 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 #1,745,271 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