befindetvsbehindertTell them apart

Quick tell: befindet is a verb, behindert is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“befindet” is a verb and “behindert” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,177
“befindet” frequency rank
#6,395
“behindert” frequency rank
7572
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature befindet behindert
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs befinden mit körperlichen oder geistigen Problemen

Where the eye mixes befindet and behindert

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

8 ch
befindet
9 ch
behindert

Visual trap between befindet and behindert

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: befindet is [bəˈfɪndət] while behindert is [bəˈhɪndɐt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7572, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

befindet is recorded at frequency rank #1,177, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈfɪndət]. behindert is at rank #6,395, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈhɪndɐt].

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 7572, this pair ranks #1,987,674 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of befindet vs behindert

Shared letters: bdeint. Private to "befindet": f. Private to "behindert": hr.

"befindet" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "behindert" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • befindetbbefindet · beffindet · befidnet · befinddet · befindett · befindte · befinedt · befinndet
  • behindertbbehindert · behhindert · behidnert · behinddert · behinderrt · behindertt · behindetr · behindret

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "befindet" and "behindert" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "befindet" is a verb and "behindert" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "befindet" or "behindert" show up more?
"befindet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,177 in our German list, against #6,395 for "behindert". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "befindet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "behindert" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,987,674 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "befindet" and "behindert" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "befindest vs behindert". 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 #1,987,674 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