Which to use
“bedienten” is an adjective and “behielten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,219
- “bedienten” frequency rank
- #24,634
- “behielten” frequency rank
- 60853
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bedienten | behielten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs bedient | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs behalten |
Where the eye mixes bedienten and behielten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. bedienten and behielten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses bedienten with behielten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bedienten is [bəˈdiːntn̩] while behielten is [bəˈhiːltn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 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 60853, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bedienten is recorded at frequency rank #36,219, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈdiːntn̩]. behielten is at rank #24,634, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈhiːltn̩].
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 60853, this pair ranks #771,481 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bedienten vs behielten
Shared letters: beint. Private to "bedienten": d. Private to "behielten": hl.
"bedienten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC · "behielten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bedienten" for "behielten" ever safe?
Which is more common, "bedienten" or "behielten"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "bedienten" and "behielten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bedienten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "behielten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #771,481 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bedienten" and "behielten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bediene vs bedienten". 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 #771,481 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.