bebautenvsbetäubenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: bebauten is a adjective, betäuben is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bebauten” is an adjective and “betäuben” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,156
“bebauten” frequency rank
#46,525
“betäuben” frequency rank
91681
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bebauten betäuben
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs bebaut (für bestimmte Zeit) gegen Empfindungen, insbesondere Schmerz, teilweise oder vollständig unempfindlich machen; taub machen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bebauten and betäuben apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
bebauten
8 ch
betäuben

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bebauten is [bəˈbaʊ̯tn̩] while betäuben is [bəˈtɔɪ̯bn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 91681, 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]. betäuben is at rank #46,525, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈtɔɪ̯bn̩].

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 91681, this pair ranks #35,873 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bebauten vs betäuben

Shared letters: bentu. Private to "bebauten": a. Private to "betäuben": ä.

"bebauten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC  ·  "betäuben" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bebautenbbeauten · bbebauten · beabuten · bebatuen · bebauetn · bebautenn · bebautne · bebautten

Frequency comparison

bebauten#45,156
betäuben#46,525

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bebauten" and "betäuben" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bebauten" is an adjective and "betäuben" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bebauten" or "betäuben"?
"bebauten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #45,156 in our German list, against #46,525 for "betäuben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering bebauten vs betäuben

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “bebauten”; for a verb, it's “betäuben”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “bebauten” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list