bebautvsbehältWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,210
“bebaut” frequency rank
#8,031
“behält” frequency rank
35241
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bebaut behält
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs bebauen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs behalten

Where the eye mixes bebaut and behält

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
bebaut
6 ch
behält

Why the eye confuses bebaut with behält

A purely visual mix-up. bebaut ([bəˈbaʊ̯t]) and behält ([bəˈhɛlt]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35241, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bebaut is recorded at frequency rank #27,210, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈbaʊ̯t]. behält is at rank #8,031, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈhɛlt].

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 35241, this pair ranks #1,644,602 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bebaut vs behält

Shared letters: bet. Private to "bebaut": au. Private to "behält": hlä.

"bebaut" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "behält" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bebautbbeaut · bbebaut · beabut · bebatu · bebautt · bebbaut · bebuat · ebbaut

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bebaut" for "behält" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈbaʊ̯t] versus [bəˈhɛlt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bebaut" vs "behält" - which ranks higher?
"behält" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,031 in our German list, against #27,210 for "bebaut". 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 "bebaut" and "behält" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bebaut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "behält" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,644,602 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bebaut" and "behält" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bebaut vs bebt". 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 #1,644,602 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