befahlvsbejahtConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#16,642
“befahl” frequency rank
#37,996
“bejaht” frequency rank
54638
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature befahl bejaht
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs befehlen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs bejahen

Where the eye mixes befahl and bejaht

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
befahl
6 ch
bejaht

Why the eye confuses befahl with bejaht

A purely visual mix-up. befahl ([bəˈfaːl]) and bejaht ([bəˈjaːt]) 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 54638, 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]. bejaht is at rank #37,996, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈjaːt].

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 54638, this pair ranks #1,011,004 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of befahl vs bejaht

Shared letters: abeh. Private to "befahl": fl. Private to "bejaht": jt.

"befahl" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "bejaht" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • befahlbbefahl · beafhl · befahhl · befahll · befalh · beffahl · befhal · bfeahl
  • bejahtbbejaht · beajht · bejahht · bejahtt · bejath · bejhat · bejjaht · bjeaht

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "befahl" for "bejaht" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈfaːl] versus [bəˈjaːt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "befahl" vs "bejaht" - which ranks higher?
"befahl" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,642 in our German list, against #37,996 for "bejaht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "befahl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bejaht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,011,004 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "befahl" and "bejaht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bejahen vs bejaht". 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 #1,011,004 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