Which to use
“Befehl” is a noun and “befiehlt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,797
- “Befehl” frequency rank
- #25,058
- “befiehlt” frequency rank
- 28855
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Befehl | befiehlt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | verbindliche Anweisung (bei Militär, Polizei und ähnlichen) | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs befehlen |
Where the eye mixes Befehl and befiehlt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Befehl runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against befiehlt's 8 (CVCVVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Befehl and befiehlt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Befehl is [bəˈfeːl] while befiehlt is [bəˈfiːlt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28855, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Befehl is recorded at frequency rank #3,797, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈfeːl]. befiehlt is at rank #25,058, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈfiːlt].
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 28855, this pair ranks #1,777,359 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Befehl vs befiehlt
Shared letters: befhl. Private to "Befehl": -. Private to "befiehlt": it.
"Befehl" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "befiehlt" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Befehl" and "befiehlt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "Befehl" or "befiehlt"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Befehl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "befiehlt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,777,359 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Befehl" and "befiehlt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Befehl vs befuhr". 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 #1,777,359 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.