befüllenvsbeulenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#42,369
“befüllen” frequency rank
#43,061
“beulen” frequency rank
85430
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature befüllen beulen
Definition einen Behälter voll machen sich zu einer Beule entwickeln

Where the eye mixes befüllen and beulen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. befüllen runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against beulen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
befüllen
6 ch
beulen

Look-alike desk: befüllen vs beulen

A purely visual mix-up. befüllen ([bəˈfʏlən]) and beulen ([ˈbɔɪ̯lən]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85430, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

befüllen is recorded at frequency rank #42,369, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈfʏlən]. beulen is at rank #43,061, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbɔɪ̯lən].

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 85430, this pair ranks #108,469 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of befüllen vs beulen

Shared letters: beln. Private to "befüllen": fü. Private to "beulen": u.

"befüllen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "beulen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beulen ← bbeulen · beluen · beueln · beulenn · beullen · beulne · buelen · ebulen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "befüllen" for "beulen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈfʏlən] versus [ˈbɔɪ̯lən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "befüllen" or "beulen"?
"befüllen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,369 in our German list, against #43,061 for "beulen". 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 "befüllen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beulen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #108,469 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "befüllen" and "beulen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beulen vs Blusen". 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 #108,469 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