Which to use
“Befehle” is a noun and “befehlen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,333
- “Befehle” frequency rank
- #17,525
- “befehlen” frequency rank
- 26858
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Befehle | befehlen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Befehl | einen bindenden Auftrag erteilen, etwas Bestimmtes genau befolgend auszuführen |
Where the eye mixes Befehle and befehlen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Befehle runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against befehlen's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Befehle and befehlen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Befehle is [bəˈfeːlə] while befehlen is [bəˈfeːlən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Befehle” sits inside “befehlen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26858, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Befehle is recorded at frequency rank #9,333, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈfeːlə]. befehlen is at rank #17,525, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈfeːlən].
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 26858, this pair ranks #1,811,274 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Befehle vs befehlen
Shared letters: befhl. Private to "Befehle": -. Private to "befehlen": n.
"Befehle" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "befehlen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Befehle" for "befehlen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Befehle" or "befehlen" show up more?
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 "Befehle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "befehlen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,811,274 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Befehle" and "befehlen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "befehlen vs befüllen". 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 #1,811,274 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.