Which to use
“befahl” and “bezahl” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,642
- “befahl” frequency rank
- #30,481
- “bezahl” frequency rank
- 47123
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | befahl | bezahl |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs befehlen | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bezahlen |
Where the eye mixes befahl and bezahl
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. befahl and bezahl follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between befahl and bezahl
A purely visual mix-up. befahl ([bəˈfaːl]) and bezahl ([bəˈt͡saːl]) 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 a single letter - f in “befahl” becomes z in “bezahl”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47123, 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]. bezahl is at rank #30,481, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈt͡saːl].
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 47123, this pair ranks #1,295,395 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of befahl vs bezahl
Shared letters: abehl. Private to "befahl": f. Private to "bezahl": z.
"befahl" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "bezahl" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "befahl" and "bezahl" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "befahl" vs "bezahl" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "befahl" and "bezahl" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "befahl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bezahl" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,295,395 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "befahl" and "bezahl" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bejaht vs bezahl". 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 #1,295,395 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.