beeilenvsbreitenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#25,460
“beeilen” frequency rank
#3,429
“breiten” frequency rank
28889
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beeilen breiten
Definition (die Geschwindigkeit erhöhen), sich schneller bewegen, schneller machen etwas Zusammengelegtes, das wenig Platz einnimmt, auseinandernehmen und mehr Platz einnehmen lassen

Where the eye mixes beeilen and breiten

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

7 ch
beeilen
7 ch
breiten

Visual trap between beeilen and breiten

A purely visual mix-up. beeilen ([bəˈʔaɪ̯lən]) and breiten ([ˈbʁaɪ̯tn̩]) 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 28889, 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]. breiten is at rank #3,429, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbʁaɪ̯tn̩].

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 28889, this pair ranks #1,776,768 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beeilen vs breiten

Shared letters: bein. Private to "beeilen": l. Private to "breiten": rt.

"beeilen" · 7 letters · shape CVVVCVC  ·  "breiten" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beeilen ← bbeeilen · beeieln · beeilenn · beeillen · beeilne · beelien · beielen · beilen
  • breiten ← bbreiten · beriten · breietn · breitenn · breitne · breitten · bretien · brieten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "beeilen" and "breiten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʔaɪ̯lən] versus [ˈbʁaɪ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "beeilen" or "breiten"?
"breiten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,429 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.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "beeilen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "breiten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,776,768 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beeilen" and "breiten" 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 #1,776,768 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