beeilenvsbemalenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,460
“beeilen” frequency rank
#41,066
“bemalen” frequency rank
66526
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beeilen bemalen
Definition (die Geschwindigkeit erhöhen), sich schneller bewegen, schneller machen mit Malereien verzieren, dekorieren

Where the eye mixes beeilen and bemalen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. beeilen (CVVVCVC) and bemalen (CVCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
beeilen
7 ch
bemalen

Look-alike desk: beeilen vs bemalen

A purely visual mix-up. beeilen ([bəˈʔaɪ̯lən]) and bemalen ([bəˈmaːlən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66526, 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]. bemalen is at rank #41,066, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈmaːlən].

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 66526, this pair ranks #570,263 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of beeilen vs bemalen

Shared letters: beln. Private to "beeilen": i. Private to "bemalen": am.

"beeilen" · 7 letters · shape CVVVCVC  ·  "bemalen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beeilen ← bbeeilen · beeieln · beeilenn · beeillen · beeilne · beelien · beielen · beilen
  • bemalen ← bbemalen · beamlen · bemaeln · bemalenn · bemallen · bemalne · bemlaen · bemmalen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "beeilen" for "bemalen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʔaɪ̯lən] versus [bəˈmaːlən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "beeilen" vs "bemalen" - which ranks higher?
"beeilen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,460 in our German list, against #41,066 for "bemalen". 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 "bemalen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #570,263 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beeilen" and "bemalen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "banalen vs bemalen". 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 #570,263 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