Which to use
“befallen” and “bemalten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,489
- “befallen” frequency rank
- #40,431
- “bemalten” frequency rank
- 58920
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | befallen | bemalten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | von etwas betroffen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs bemalt |
Where the eye mixes befallen and bemalten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. befallen and bemalten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: befallen vs bemalten
A purely visual mix-up. befallen ([bəˈfalən]) and bemalten ([bəˈmaːltn̩]) 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 58920, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
befallen is recorded at frequency rank #18,489, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈfalən]. bemalten is at rank #40,431, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈmaːltn̩].
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 58920, this pair ranks #844,271 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of befallen vs bemalten
Shared letters: abeln. Private to "befallen": f. Private to "bemalten": mt.
"befallen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "bemalten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "befallen" and "bemalten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "befallen" or "bemalten"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "befallen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bemalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #844,271 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "befallen" and "bemalten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "behaltet vs bemalten". 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 #844,271 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.