beidevsbildeConfusable pair

Quick tell: beide is a num, bilde is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“beide” is a num and “bilde” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#364
“beide” frequency rank
#12,249
“bilde” frequency rank
12613
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beide bilde
Definition sowohl der/die/das eine als auch der/die/das andere; auch adverbial gebraucht 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bilden

Where the eye mixes beide and bilde

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. beide (CVVCV) and bilde (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
beide
5 ch
bilde

Why the eye confuses beide with bilde

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: beide is [ˈbaɪ̯də] while bilde is [ˈbɪldə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12613, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beide is recorded at frequency rank #364, classified as anum, pronounced [ˈbaɪ̯də]. bilde is at rank #12,249, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbɪldə].

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 12613, this pair ranks #1,963,118 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beide vs bilde

Shared letters: bdei. Private to "beide": -. Private to "bilde": l.

"beide" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "bilde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beide ← bbeide · bedie · beidde · beied · biede · ebide
  • bilde ← bbilde · bidle · bildde · biled · billde · blide · iblde

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "beide" for "bilde" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "beide" is a num and "bilde" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "beide" or "bilde"?
"beide" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #364 in our German list, against #12,249 for "bilde". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "beide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bilde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,963,118 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beide" and "bilde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bilde vs bills". 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 #1,963,118 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