Which to use
“befreiten” is an adjective and “breiten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,327
- “befreiten” frequency rank
- #3,429
- “breiten” frequency rank
- 29756
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | befreiten | breiten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs befreit | etwas Zusammengelegtes, das wenig Platz einnimmt, auseinandernehmen und mehr Platz einnehmen lassen |
Where the eye mixes befreiten and breiten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. befreiten runs 9 letters (CVCCVVCVC) against breiten's 7 (CCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: befreiten vs breiten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: befreiten is [bəˈfʁaɪ̯tn̩] while breiten is [ˈbʁaɪ̯tn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29756, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
befreiten is recorded at frequency rank #26,327, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈfʁaɪ̯tn̩]. breiten is at rank #3,429, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbʁaɪ̯tn̩].
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 29756, this pair ranks #1,760,907 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of befreiten vs breiten
Shared letters: beinrt. Private to "befreiten": f. Private to "breiten": -.
"befreiten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC · "breiten" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "befreiten" and "breiten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "befreiten" or "breiten" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "befreiten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "breiten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,760,907 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "befreiten" and "breiten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "befreiend vs befreiten". 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 #1,760,907 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.