Which to use
“bauten” is a verb and “bebauten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,801
- “bauten” frequency rank
- #45,156
- “bebauten” frequency rank
- 50957
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bauten | bebauten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs bauen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs bebaut |
Where the eye mixes bauten and bebauten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. bauten runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against bebauten's 8 (CVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: bauten vs bebauten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bauten is [ˈbaʊ̯tn̩] while bebauten is [bəˈbaʊ̯tn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “bauten” sits inside “bebauten”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50957, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bauten is recorded at frequency rank #5,801, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbaʊ̯tn̩]. bebauten is at rank #45,156, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈbaʊ̯tn̩].
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 50957, this pair ranks #1,153,969 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bauten vs bebauten
Shared letters: abentu. Private to "bauten": -. Private to "bebauten": -.
"bauten" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "bebauten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bauten" and "bebauten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "bauten" or "bebauten" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "bauten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bebauten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,153,969 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bauten" and "bebauten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bebauten vs betäuben". 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 #1,153,969 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.