beinahevsbinäreWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: beinahe is a adverb, binäre is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#3,105
“beinahe” frequency rank
#29,966
“binäre” frequency rank
33071
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beinahe binäre
Definition fast, sehr nahe an etwas heran Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs binär

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set beinahe and binäre apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
beinahe
6 ch
binäre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: beinahe is [ˈbaɪ̯naːə] while binäre is [biˈnɛːʁə]. 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 (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33071, 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]. binäre is at rank #29,966, tagged as anadj, pronounced [biˈnɛːʁə].

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 33071, this pair ranks #1,693,902 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beinahe vs binäre

Shared letters: bein. Private to "beinahe": ah. Private to "binäre": .

"beinahe" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV  ·  "binäre" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beinahebbeinahe · beianhe · beinaeh · beinahhe · beinhae · beinnahe · beniahe · bienahe

Frequency comparison

beinahe#3,105
binäre#29,966

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "beinahe" and "binäre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "beinahe" is an adverb and "binäre" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "beinahe" or "binäre"?
"beinahe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,105 in our German list, against #29,966 for "binäre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering beinahe vs binäre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “beinahe”; for an adjective, it's “binäre”.
  • 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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list