beilegenvsbelegtenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: beilegen is a verb, belegten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“beilegen” is a verb and “belegten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,512
“beilegen” frequency rank
#13,557
“belegten” frequency rank
60069
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beilegen belegten
Definition zu etwas hinzufügen Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs belegt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set beilegen and belegten apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
beilegen
8 ch
belegten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: beilegen is [ˈbaɪ̯ˌleːɡn̩] while belegten is [bəˈleːktn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60069, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beilegen is recorded at frequency rank #46,512, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbaɪ̯ˌleːɡn̩]. belegten is at rank #13,557, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈleːktn̩].

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 60069, this pair ranks #800,777 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of beilegen vs belegten

Shared letters: begln. Private to "beilegen": i. Private to "belegten": t.

"beilegen" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC  ·  "belegten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beilegenbbeilegen · beielgen · beileegn · beilegenn · beileggen · beilegne · beilgeen · beillegen
  • belegtenbbelegten · beelgten · belegetn · beleggten · belegtenn · belegtne · belegtten · beletgen

Frequency comparison

beilegen#46,512
belegten#13,557

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "beilegen" and "belegten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "beilegen" is a verb and "belegten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "beilegen" or "belegten"?
"belegten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,557 in our German list, against #46,512 for "beilegen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering beilegen vs belegten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “beilegen”; for an adjective, it's “belegten”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “beilegen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list