beavsbebtWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#21,179
“bea” frequency rank
#47,244
“bebt” frequency rank
68423
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bea bebt
Definition trinken 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs beben

Where the eye mixes bea and bebt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. bea runs 3 letters (CVV) against bebt's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
bea
4 ch
bebt

Visual trap between bea and bebt

A purely visual mix-up. bea ([be̯a]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68423, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bea is recorded at frequency rank #21,179, classified as averb, pronounced [be̯a]. 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 68423, this pair ranks #508,267 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bea vs bebt

Shared letters: be. Private to "bea": a. Private to "bebt": t.

"bea" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "bebt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bebt ← bbebt · bbet · bebbt · bebtt · betb · ebbt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bea" for "bebt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([be̯a] versus [beːpt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bea" or "bebt"?
"bea" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,179 in our German list, against #47,244 for "bebt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "bea" and "bebt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bea" 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 #508,267 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bea" 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 #508,267 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