Which to use
“Befehl” is a noun and “bezahl” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,797
- “Befehl” frequency rank
- #30,481
- “bezahl” frequency rank
- 34278
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Befehl | bezahl |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | verbindliche Anweisung (bei Militär, Polizei und ähnlichen) | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bezahlen |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Befehl and bezahl apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Befehl and bezahl form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34278, 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]. 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 34278, this pair ranks #1,666,972 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Befehl" and "bezahl" be used interchangeably?
Remembering Befehl vs bezahl
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Befehl”; for a verb, it's “bezahl”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Befehl” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable