beatvsbemaltWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,153
“beat” frequency rank
#21,189
“bemalt” frequency rank
30342
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beat bemalt
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs beaten Partizip Perfekt des Verbs bemalen

Where the eye mixes beat and bemalt

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

4 ch
beat
6 ch
bemalt

Why the eye confuses beat with bemalt

A purely visual mix-up. beat ([biːt]) and bemalt ([bəˈmaːlt]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30342, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beat is recorded at frequency rank #9,153, classified as averb, pronounced [biːt]. bemalt is at rank #21,189, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈmaːlt].

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 30342, this pair ranks #1,749,769 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beat vs bemalt

Shared letters: abet. Private to "beat": -. Private to "bemalt": lm.

"beat" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "bemalt" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beatbaet · bbeat · beatt · ebat
  • bemaltbbemalt · beamlt · bemallt · bemaltt · bematl · bemlat · bemmalt · bmealt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "beat" and "bemalt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([biːt] versus [bəˈmaːlt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "beat" or "bemalt" show up more?
"beat" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,153 in our German list, against #21,189 for "bemalt". 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 "beat" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bemalt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,749,769 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beat" and "bemalt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bellt vs bemalt". 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 #1,749,769 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