Which to use
“befahren” is an adjective and “bejahen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,748
- “befahren” frequency rank
- #45,800
- “bejahen” frequency rank
- 60548
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | befahren | bejahen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit Fahrzeugen benutzt | seine Zustimmung geben; ja sagen |
Where the eye mixes befahren and bejahen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. befahren runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against bejahen's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: befahren vs bejahen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: befahren is [bəˈfaːʁən] while bejahen is [bəˈjaːən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60548, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
befahren is recorded at frequency rank #14,748, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈfaːʁən]. bejahen is at rank #45,800, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈjaːən].
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 60548, this pair ranks #782,887 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of befahren vs bejahen
Shared letters: abehn. Private to "befahren": fr. Private to "bejahen": j.
"befahren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "bejahen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "befahren" and "bejahen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "befahren" or "bejahen" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "befahren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bejahen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #782,887 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "befahren" and "bejahen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bejahen 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 #782,887 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.