bautvsbebtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,357
“baut” frequency rank
#47,244
“bebt” frequency rank
50601
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baut bebt
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bauen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs beben

Where the eye mixes baut and bebt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. baut (CVVC) and bebt (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
baut
4 ch
bebt

Why the eye confuses baut with bebt

A purely visual mix-up. baut ([baʊ̯t]) and bebt ([beːpt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50601, 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]. bebt is at rank #47,244, tagged as averb, pronounced [beːpt].

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 50601, this pair ranks #1,167,512 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of baut vs bebt

Shared letters: bt. Private to "baut": au. Private to "bebt": e.

"baut" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "bebt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bautabut · batu · bautt · bbaut · buat
  • bebtbbebt · bbet · bebbt · bebtt · betb · ebbt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "baut" for "bebt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([baʊ̯t] versus [beːpt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "baut" or "bebt"?
"baut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,357 in our German list, against #47,244 for "bebt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "baut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bebt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,167,512 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "baut" and "bebt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bebt vs Bubi". 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 #1,167,512 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