beeilenvsbellenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#25,460
“beeilen” frequency rank
#14,249
“bellen” frequency rank
39709
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beeilen bellen
Definition (die Geschwindigkeit erhöhen), sich schneller bewegen, schneller machen die für Hunde typischen stimmhaften Töne von sich geben

Where the eye mixes beeilen and bellen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. beeilen runs 7 letters (CVVVCVC) against bellen's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
beeilen
6 ch
bellen

Visual trap between beeilen and bellen

A purely visual mix-up. beeilen ([bəˈʔaɪ̯lən]) and bellen ([ˈbɛlən]) 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 39709, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beeilen is recorded at frequency rank #25,460, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʔaɪ̯lən]. bellen is at rank #14,249, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbɛlən].

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 39709, this pair ranks #1,529,155 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beeilen vs bellen

Shared letters: beln. Private to "beeilen": i. Private to "bellen": -.

"beeilen" · 7 letters · shape CVVVCVC  ·  "bellen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beeilen ← bbeeilen · beeieln · beeilenn · beeillen · beeilne · beelien · beielen · beilen
  • bellen ← bbellen · beleln · belen · bellenn · bellne · blelen · ebllen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "beeilen" for "bellen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʔaɪ̯lən] versus [ˈbɛlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "beeilen" or "bellen"?
"bellen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,249 in our German list, against #25,460 for "beeilen". 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 "beeilen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bellen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,529,155 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beeilen" and "bellen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beeilen vs beulen". 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 #1,529,155 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