behindernvsBehinderungConfusable pair

Quick tell: behindern is a verb, Behinderung is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“behindern” is a verb and “Behinderung” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,017
“behindern” frequency rank
#5,914
“Behinderung” frequency rank
19931
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature behindern Behinderung
Definition stören, an etwas hindern, von etwas abhalten körperliche oder psychische Funktionsstörung einer Person, so dass sie von dem für das Lebensalter typischen Zustand abweicht und daher ihre Teilhabe am Leben der Gesellschaft beeinträchtigt ist

Where the eye mixes behindern and Behinderung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. behindern runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCC) against Behinderung's 11 (CVCVCCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
behindern
11 ch
Behinderung

Look-alike desk: behindern vs Behinderung

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: behindern is [bəˈhɪndɐn] while Behinderung is [bəˈhɪndəʁʊŋ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19931, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

behindern is recorded at frequency rank #14,017, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈhɪndɐn]. Behinderung is at rank #5,914, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈhɪndəʁʊŋ].

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 19931, this pair ranks #1,903,099 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of behindern vs Behinderung

Shared letters: bdehinr. Private to "behindern": -. Private to "Behinderung": gu.

"behindern" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC  ·  "Behinderung" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • behindern ← bbehindern · behhindern · behidnern · behinddern · behindenr · behindernn · behinderrn · behindren
  • Behinderung ← bbehinderung · behhinderung · behidnerung · behindderung · behindernug · behinderrung · behinderugn · behinderungg

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "behindern" for "Behinderung" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "behindern" is a verb and "Behinderung" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "behindern" vs "Behinderung" - which ranks higher?
"Behinderung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,914 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.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "behindern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Behinderung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,903,099 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "behindern" and "Behinderung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Behinderung vs Bewunderung". 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 #1,903,099 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