behandelnvsbehindernTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,023
“behandeln” frequency rank
#14,017
“behindern” frequency rank
17040
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature behandeln behindern
Definition mit etwas oder jemandem umgehen oder verfahren stören, an etwas hindern, von etwas abhalten

Where the eye mixes behandeln and behindern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. behandeln and behindern follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
behandeln
9 ch
behindern

Why the eye confuses behandeln with behindern

A purely visual mix-up. behandeln ([bəˈhandl̩n]) and behindern ([bəˈhɪndɐn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17040, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

behandeln is recorded at frequency rank #3,023, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈhandl̩n]. behindern is at rank #14,017, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈhɪndɐn].

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 17040, this pair ranks #1,930,871 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of behandeln vs behindern

Shared letters: bdehn. Private to "behandeln": al. Private to "behindern": ir.

"behandeln" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC  ·  "behindern" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • behandeln ← bbehandeln · beahndeln · behadneln · behanddeln · behandelln · behandelnn · behandenl · behandlen
  • behindern ← bbehindern · behhindern · behidnern · behinddern · behindenr · behindernn · behinderrn · behindren

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "behandeln" and "behindern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈhandl̩n] versus [bəˈhɪndɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "behandeln" vs "behindern" - which ranks higher?
"behandeln" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,023 in our German list, against #14,017 for "behindern". 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 "behandeln" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "behindern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,930,871 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "behandeln" and "behindern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "behandeln vs behandelnde". 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 #1,930,871 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