Which to use
“Bein” is a noun and “breit” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,799
- “Bein” frequency rank
- #2,332
- “breit” frequency rank
- 6131
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Bein | breit |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Extremität zum Laufen und Stehen | horizontal seitlich ausgedehnt (in Links-Rechts-Richtung) |
Where the eye mixes Bein and breit
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Bein runs 4 letters (CVVC) against breit's 5 (CCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Bein vs breit
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Bein is [baɪ̯n] while breit is [bʁaɪ̯t]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6131, 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]. breit is at rank #2,332, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bʁaɪ̯t].
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 6131, this pair ranks #1,992,619 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Bein vs breit
Shared letters: bei. Private to "Bein": n. Private to "breit": rt.
"Bein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "breit" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Bein" for "breit" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Bein" or "breit" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Bein" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "breit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,992,619 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Bein" and "breit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bein vs bic". 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 #1,992,619 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.