BebauungvsBehausungWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#13,317
“Bebauung” frequency rank
#45,797
“Behausung” frequency rank
59114
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bebauung Behausung
Definition der Vorgang des Bebauens einer Fläche einfache, schlichte, manchmal notdürftige Unterkunft

Where the eye mixes Bebauung and Behausung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Bebauung runs 8 letters (CVCVVVCC) against Behausung's 9 (CVCVVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Bebauung
9 ch
Behausung

Visual trap between Bebauung and Behausung

A purely visual mix-up. Bebauung ([bəˈbaʊ̯ʊŋ]) and Behausung ([bəˈhaʊ̯zʊŋ]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59114, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bebauung is recorded at frequency rank #13,317, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈbaʊ̯ʊŋ]. Behausung is at rank #45,797, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈhaʊ̯zʊŋ].

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 59114, this pair ranks #836,771 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Bebauung vs Behausung

Shared letters: abegnu. Private to "Bebauung": -. Private to "Behausung": hs.

"Bebauung" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVVCC  ·  "Behausung" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bebauung ← bbeauung · bbebauung · beabuung · bebaung · bebaunug · bebauugn · bebauungg · bebauunng
  • Behausung ← bbehausung · beahusung · behasuung · behausnug · behaussung · behausugn · behausungg · behausunng

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Bebauung" and "Behausung" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈbaʊ̯ʊŋ] versus [bəˈhaʊ̯zʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Bebauung" vs "Behausung" - which ranks higher?
"Bebauung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,317 in our German list, against #45,797 for "Behausung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Bebauung" and "Behausung" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Bebauung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Behausung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #836,771 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Bebauung" and "Behausung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Behausung vs Betäubung". 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 #836,771 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