Which to use
“behaarten” is an adjective and “beharren” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,992
- “behaarten” frequency rank
- #28,553
- “beharren” frequency rank
- 66545
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | behaarten | beharren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs behaart | bezogen auf Meinung, Entschluss: etwas nicht aufgeben, hartnäckig an etwas festhalten, in etwas nicht nachgeben |
Where the eye mixes behaarten and beharren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. behaarten runs 9 letters (CVCVVCCVC) against beharren's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses behaarten with beharren
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: behaarten is [bəˈhaːɐ̯tn̩] while beharren is [bəˈhaʁən]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66545, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
behaarten is recorded at frequency rank #37,992, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈhaːɐ̯tn̩]. beharren is at rank #28,553, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈhaʁən].
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 66545, this pair ranks #569,615 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of behaarten vs beharren
Shared letters: abehnr. Private to "behaarten": t. Private to "beharren": -.
"behaarten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC · "beharren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "behaarten" for "beharren" ever safe?
Which is more common, "behaarten" or "beharren"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "behaarten" and "beharren" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "behaarten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "beharren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #569,615 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "behaarten" and "beharren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beharren vs beirren". 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 #569,615 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.