Which to use
“begin” is a verb and “behind” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,748
- “begin” frequency rank
- #24,635
- “behind” frequency rank
- 68383
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | begin | behind |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | beginnen, anfangen | hinten |
Where the eye mixes begin and behind
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: begin vs behind
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: begin is [bɪˈɡɪn] while behind is [bɪˈhaɪnd]. 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 adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68383, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
begin is recorded at frequency rank #43,748, classified as averb, pronounced [bɪˈɡɪn]. behind is at rank #24,635, tagged as anadv, pronounced [bɪˈhaɪnd].
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 68383, this pair ranks #509,568 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of begin vs behind
Shared letters: bein. Private to "begin": g. Private to "behind": dh.
"begin" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "behind" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "begin" for "behind" ever safe?
Which is more common, "begin" or "behind"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "begin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "behind" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #509,568 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "begin" and "behind" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bain vs begin". 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 #509,568 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.