begleichenvsbleichenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#19,840
“begleichen” frequency rank
#38,650
“bleichen” frequency rank
58490
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature begleichen bleichen
Definition einer finanziellen Forderung nachkommen, einen geschuldeten Betrag entrichten durch bestimmte Behandlung heller machen; den Gilb entfernen

Where the eye mixes begleichen and bleichen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

10 ch
begleichen
8 ch
bleichen

Why the eye confuses begleichen with bleichen

A purely visual mix-up. begleichen ([bəˈɡlaɪ̯çn̩]) and bleichen ([ˈblaɪ̯çn̩]) 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 58490, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

begleichen is recorded at frequency rank #19,840, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡlaɪ̯çn̩]. bleichen is at rank #38,650, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈblaɪ̯çn̩].

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 58490, this pair ranks #860,725 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of begleichen vs bleichen

Shared letters: bcehiln. Private to "begleichen": g. Private to "bleichen": -.

"begleichen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVC  ·  "bleichen" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • begleichenbbegleichen · begelichen · beggleichen · beglecihen · begleicchen · begleicehn · begleichenn · begleichhen
  • bleichenbbleichen · belichen · blecihen · bleicchen · bleicehn · bleichenn · bleichhen · bleichne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "begleichen" and "bleichen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈɡlaɪ̯çn̩] versus [ˈblaɪ̯çn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "begleichen" vs "bleichen" - which ranks higher?
"begleichen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,840 in our German list, against #38,650 for "bleichen". 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 "begleichen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bleichen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #860,725 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "begleichen" and "bleichen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bleche vs bleichen". 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 #860,725 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