bebenvsbehebenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#17,524
“beben” frequency rank
#11,821
“beheben” frequency rank
29345
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beben beheben
Definition stark erzittern einen Schaden, einen Fehler beseitigen

Where the eye mixes beben and beheben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
beben
7 ch
beheben

Why the eye confuses beben with beheben

A purely visual mix-up. beben ([ˈbeːbn̩]) and beheben ([bəˈheːbn̩]) 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 29345, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beben is recorded at frequency rank #17,524, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbeːbn̩]. beheben is at rank #11,821, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈheːbn̩].

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 29345, this pair ranks #1,768,533 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beben vs beheben

Shared letters: ben. Private to "beben": -. Private to "beheben": h.

"beben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "beheben" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bebenbbeben · bebben · bebenn · bebne · beebn
  • behebenbbeheben · beehben · behbeen · behebben · behebenn · behebne · beheebn · behheben

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "beben" and "beheben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbeːbn̩] versus [bəˈheːbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "beben" or "beheben"?
"beheben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,821 in our German list, against #17,524 for "beben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "beben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beheben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,768,533 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beben" and "beheben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beben vs Bibeln". 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 #1,768,533 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