befolgenvsbezogenTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#14,749
“befolgen” frequency rank
#3,301
“bezogen” frequency rank
18050
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature befolgen bezogen
Definition (einen Befehl) ausführen eine Sinnverbindung mit etwas habend, herstellend oder nennend

Where the eye mixes befolgen and bezogen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. befolgen runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against bezogen's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
befolgen
7 ch
bezogen

Visual trap between befolgen and bezogen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: befolgen is [bəˈfɔlɡn̩] while bezogen is [bəˈt͡soːɡn̩]. 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 18050, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

befolgen is recorded at frequency rank #14,749, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈfɔlɡn̩]. bezogen is at rank #3,301, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈt͡soːɡn̩].

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 18050, this pair ranks #1,921,870 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of befolgen vs bezogen

Shared letters: begno. Private to "befolgen": fl. Private to "bezogen": z.

"befolgen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "bezogen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • befolgen ← bbefolgen · beffolgen · beflogen · befoglen · befolegn · befolgenn · befolggen · befolgne
  • bezogen ← bbezogen · beozgen · bezgoen · bezoegn · bezogenn · bezoggen · bezogne · bezzogen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "befolgen" and "bezogen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "befolgen" is a verb and "bezogen" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "befolgen" vs "bezogen" - which ranks higher?
"bezogen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,301 in our German list, against #14,749 for "befolgen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "befolgen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bezogen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,921,870 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "befolgen" and "bezogen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "befolgen 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 #1,921,870 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