beinahe vs Beine, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“beinahe” is an adverb and “Beine” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,105
“beinahe” frequency rank: #2,192
“Beine” frequency rank: 5297
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	beinahe	Beine
Definition	fast, sehr nahe an etwas heran	Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Bein

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set beinahe and Beine apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

beinahe

5 ch

Beine

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: beinahe is [ˈbaɪ̯naːə] while Beine is [ˈbaɪ̯nə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5297, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beinahe is recorded at frequency rank #3,105, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈbaɪ̯naːə]. Beine is at rank #2,192, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbaɪ̯nə].

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 5297, this pair ranks #1,995,211 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beinahe vs Beine

Shared letters: bein. Private to "beinahe": ah. Private to "Beine": -.

"beinahe" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV · "Beine" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

beinahe ← bbeinahe · beianhe · beinaeh · beinahhe · beinhae · beinnahe · beniahe · bienahe
Beine ← bbeine · beien · beinne · benie · ebine

Frequency comparison

beinahe#3,105

Beine#2,192

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "beinahe" and "Beine" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "beinahe" is an adverb and "Beine" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "beinahe" or "Beine"?

"Beine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,192 in our German list, against #3,105 for "beinahe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering beinahe vs Beine

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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