BeihilfevsBeihilfenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#15,039
“Beihilfe” frequency rank
#38,634
“Beihilfen” frequency rank
53673
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Beihilfe Beihilfen
Definition zusätzliche Unterstützung in Form von Geldmitteln oder materiellen Gaben Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Beihilfe

Where the eye mixes Beihilfe and Beihilfen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
Beihilfe
9 ch
Beihilfen

Visual trap between Beihilfe and Beihilfen

A purely visual mix-up. Beihilfe ([ˈbaɪ̯hɪlfə]) and Beihilfen ([ˈbaɪ̯hɪlfn̩]) 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) - “Beihilfe” sits inside “Beihilfen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53673, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Beihilfe is recorded at frequency rank #15,039, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbaɪ̯hɪlfə]. Beihilfen is at rank #38,634, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbaɪ̯hɪlfn̩].

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 53673, this pair ranks #1,048,871 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Beihilfe vs Beihilfen

Shared letters: befhil. Private to "Beihilfe": -. Private to "Beihilfen": n.

"Beihilfe" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCCV  ·  "Beihilfen" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Beihilfebbeihilfe · behiilfe · beihhilfe · beihifle · beihilef · beihilffe · beihillfe · beihlife
  • Beihilfenbbeihilfen · behiilfen · beihhilfen · beihiflen · beihilefn · beihilfenn · beihilffen · beihilfne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Beihilfe" for "Beihilfen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbaɪ̯hɪlfə] versus [ˈbaɪ̯hɪlfn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Beihilfe" vs "Beihilfen" - which ranks higher?
"Beihilfe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,039 in our German list, against #38,634 for "Beihilfen". 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 "Beihilfe" and "Beihilfen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Beihilfe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Beihilfen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,048,871 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • 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 #1,048,871 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