Which to use
“bean” is a noun and “bei” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,940
- “bean” frequency rank
- #29
- “bei” frequency rank
- 32969
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bean | bei |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | die Bohne | in unmittelbarer Nähe |
Where the eye mixes bean and bei
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between bean and bei
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bean is [biːn] while bei is [baɪ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32969, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bean is recorded at frequency rank #32,940, classified as anoun, pronounced [biːn]. bei is at rank #29, tagged as aprep, pronounced [baɪ̯].
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 32969, this pair ranks #1,696,169 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bean vs bei
Shared letters: be. Private to "bean": an. Private to "bei": i.
"bean" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "bei" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- bean ← baen · bbean · beann · bena · eban
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bean" for "bei" ever safe?
Which is more common, "bean" or "bei"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "bean" and "bei" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bean" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bei" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,696,169 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bean" and "bei" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bean vs brun". 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 #1,696,169 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.