Which to use
“befahl” and “befall” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,642
- “befahl” frequency rank
- #29,953
- “befall” frequency rank
- 46595
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | befahl | befall |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs befehlen | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs befallen |
Same sound, different letters: befahl vs befall
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - befahl and befall
This is the hard kind. befahl and befall are pronounced identically ([bəˈfaːl]) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by a single letter - h in “befahl” becomes l in “befall”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46595, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
befahl is recorded at frequency rank #16,642, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈfaːl]. befall is at rank #29,953, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈfal].
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 46595, this pair ranks #1,313,726 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of befahl vs befall
Shared letters: abefl. Private to "befahl": h. Private to "befall": -.
"befahl" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "befall" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "befahl" for "befall" ever safe?
Frequency check: "befahl" vs "befall" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
"befahl" and "befall" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "befahl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "befall" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,313,726 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "befahl" and "befall" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "befall vs befüllt". 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 #1,313,726 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.