beklagenvsbelangenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,428
“beklagen” frequency rank
#17,528
“belangen” frequency rank
27956
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beklagen belangen
Definition seinen Unmut über etwas äußern zur Rechenschaft ziehen

Where the eye mixes beklagen and belangen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. beklagen (CVCCVCVC) and belangen (CVCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
beklagen
8 ch
belangen

Why the eye confuses beklagen with belangen

A purely visual mix-up. beklagen ([bəˈklaːɡn̩]) and belangen ([bəˈlaŋən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27956, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beklagen is recorded at frequency rank #10,428, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈklaːɡn̩]. belangen is at rank #17,528, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈlaŋən].

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 27956, this pair ranks #1,793,015 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beklagen vs belangen

Shared letters: abegln. Private to "beklagen": k. Private to "belangen": -.

"beklagen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "belangen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beklagen ← bbeklagen · bekalgen · bekklagen · beklaegn · beklagenn · beklaggen · beklagne · beklgaen
  • belangen ← bbelangen · bealngen · belagnen · belanegn · belangenn · belanggen · belangne · belanngen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "beklagen" and "belangen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈklaːɡn̩] versus [bəˈlaŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "beklagen" vs "belangen" - which ranks higher?
"beklagen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,428 in our German list, against #17,528 for "belangen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "beklagen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "belangen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,793,015 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beklagen" and "belangen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "begangene vs belangen". 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 #1,793,015 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