Which to use
“beharren” and “beirren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,553
- “beharren” frequency rank
- #37,995
- “beirren” frequency rank
- 66548
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | beharren | beirren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | bezogen auf Meinung, Entschluss: etwas nicht aufgeben, hartnäckig an etwas festhalten, in etwas nicht nachgeben | eine Person verunsichern, sie bei dem stören, was sie gerade tut oder vorhat |
Where the eye mixes beharren and beirren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. beharren runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against beirren's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: beharren vs beirren
A purely visual mix-up. beharren ([bəˈhaʁən]) and beirren ([bəˈʔɪʁən]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66548, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
beharren is recorded at frequency rank #28,553, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈhaʁən]. beirren is at rank #37,995, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈʔɪʁən].
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 66548, this pair ranks #569,513 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of beharren vs beirren
Shared letters: benr. Private to "beharren": ah. Private to "beirren": i.
"beharren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "beirren" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "beharren" for "beirren" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "beharren" or "beirren" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "beharren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "beirren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #569,513 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "beharren" and "beirren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Barren 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 #569,513 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.