Which to use
“Befehl” is a noun and “befuhr” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,797
- “Befehl” frequency rank
- #43,044
- “befuhr” frequency rank
- 46841
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Befehl | befuhr |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | verbindliche Anweisung (bei Militär, Polizei und ähnlichen) | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs befahren |
Where the eye mixes Befehl and befuhr
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Befehl and befuhr follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Befehl with befuhr
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Befehl is [bəˈfeːl] while befuhr is [bəˈfuːɐ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46841, 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]. befuhr is at rank #43,044, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈfuːɐ̯].
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 46841, this pair ranks #1,305,108 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Befehl vs befuhr
Shared letters: befh. Private to "Befehl": l. Private to "befuhr": ru.
"Befehl" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "befuhr" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Befehl" and "befuhr" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "Befehl" vs "befuhr" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Befehl" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "befuhr" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,305,108 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Befehl" and "befuhr" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "befuhr vs bemühe". 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 #1,305,108 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.