behaltevsbehaltenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#15,834
“behalte” frequency rank
#2,017
“behalten” frequency rank
17851
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature behalte behalten
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs behalten im Besitz einer Sache bleiben

Where the eye mixes behalte and behalten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
behalte
8 ch
behalten

Look-alike desk: behalte vs behalten

A purely visual mix-up. behalte ([bəˈhaltə]) and behalten ([bəˈhaltn̩]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “behalte” sits inside “behalten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17851, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

behalte is recorded at frequency rank #15,834, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈhaltə]. behalten is at rank #2,017, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈhaltn̩].

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 17851, this pair ranks #1,923,688 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of behalte vs behalten

Shared letters: abehlt. Private to "behalte": -. Private to "behalten": n.

"behalte" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "behalten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • behaltebbehalte · beahlte · behalet · behallte · behaltte · behatle · behhalte · behlate
  • behaltenbbehalten · beahlten · behaletn · behallten · behaltenn · behaltne · behaltten · behatlen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "behalte" and "behalten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈhaltə] versus [bəˈhaltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "behalte" vs "behalten" - which ranks higher?
"behalten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,017 in our German list, against #15,834 for "behalte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "behalte" and "behalten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "behalte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "behalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,923,688 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "behalte" and "behalten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "behalte vs behaltet". 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 #1,923,688 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