befindevsbefindetWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“befinde” and “befindet” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#15,572
“befinde” frequency rank
#1,177
“befindet” frequency rank
16749
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature befinde befindet
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs befinden 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs befinden

Where the eye mixes befinde and befindet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
befinde
8 ch
befindet

Visual trap between befinde and befindet

A purely visual mix-up. befinde ([bəˈfɪndə]) and befindet ([bəˈfɪndət]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “befinde” sits inside “befindet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

befinde is recorded at frequency rank #15,572, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈfɪndə]. befindet is at rank #1,177, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈfɪndət].

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 16749, this pair ranks #1,933,282 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of befinde vs befindet

Shared letters: bdefin. Private to "befinde": -. Private to "befindet": t.

"befinde" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "befindet" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • befindebbefinde · beffinde · befidne · befindde · befined · befinnde · befnide · beifnde
  • befindetbbefindet · beffindet · befidnet · befinddet · befindett · befindte · befinedt · befinndet

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "befinde" and "befindet" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈfɪndə] versus [bəˈfɪndət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "befinde" or "befindet"?
"befindet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,177 in our German list, against #15,572 for "befinde". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "befinde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "befindet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,933,282 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "befinde" and "befindet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "befinde vs befindest". 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 #1,933,282 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list