BeinvsBetonWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,799
“Bein” frequency rank
#7,879
“Beton” frequency rank
11678
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bein Beton
Definition Extremität zum Laufen und Stehen aus Zement, Wasser und Gesteinskörnung hergestellter Baustoff

Where the eye mixes Bein and Beton

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Bein runs 4 letters (CVVC) against Beton's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Bein
5 ch
Beton

Why the eye confuses Bein with Beton

A purely visual mix-up. Bein ([baɪ̯n]) and Beton ([beˈtɔŋ]) 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 11678, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bein is recorded at frequency rank #3,799, classified as anoun, pronounced [baɪ̯n]. Beton is at rank #7,879, tagged as anoun, pronounced [beˈtɔŋ].

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 11678, this pair ranks #1,968,536 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Bein vs Beton

Shared letters: ben. Private to "Bein": i. Private to "Beton": ot.

"Bein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Beton" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Beinbbein · beinn · beni · ebin
  • Betonbbeton · beotn · betno · betonn · betton · bteon · ebton

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Bein" for "Beton" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([baɪ̯n] versus [beˈtɔŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Bein" or "Beton"?
"Bein" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,799 in our German list, against #7,879 for "Beton". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Bein" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Beton" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,968,536 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Bein" and "Beton" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Beton vs Betone". 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 #1,968,536 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