bebautenvsbemaltenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,156
“bebauten” frequency rank
#40,431
“bemalten” frequency rank
85587
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bebauten bemalten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs bebaut Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs bemalt

Where the eye mixes bebauten and bemalten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
bebauten
8 ch
bemalten

Look-alike desk: bebauten vs bemalten

A purely visual mix-up. bebauten ([bəˈbaʊ̯tn̩]) and bemalten ([bəˈmaːltn̩]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85587, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bebauten is recorded at frequency rank #45,156, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈbaʊ̯tn̩]. bemalten is at rank #40,431, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈmaːltn̩].

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 85587, this pair ranks #106,105 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bebauten vs bemalten

Shared letters: abent. Private to "bebauten": u. Private to "bemalten": lm.

"bebauten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC  ·  "bemalten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bebautenbbeauten · bbebauten · beabuten · bebatuen · bebauetn · bebautenn · bebautne · bebautten
  • bemaltenbbemalten · beamlten · bemaletn · bemallten · bemaltenn · bemaltne · bemaltten · bematlen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bebauten" for "bemalten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈbaʊ̯tn̩] versus [bəˈmaːltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bebauten" or "bemalten"?
"bemalten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,431 in our German list, against #45,156 for "bebauten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bebauten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bemalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #106,105 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bebauten" and "bemalten" 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 #106,105 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