beklagenvsbelügenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,428
“beklagen” frequency rank
#31,957
“belügen” frequency rank
42385
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beklagen belügen
Definition seinen Unmut über etwas äußern jemandem eine Unwahrheit erzählen, bewusst Lügen verbreiten

Where the eye mixes beklagen and belügen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. beklagen runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against belügen's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
beklagen
7 ch
belügen

Look-alike desk: beklagen vs belügen

A purely visual mix-up. beklagen ([bəˈklaːɡn̩]) and belügen ([bəˈlyːɡn̩]) 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 42385, 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]. belügen is at rank #31,957, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈlyːɡn̩].

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 42385, this pair ranks #1,451,034 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of beklagen vs belügen

Shared letters: begln. Private to "beklagen": ak. Private to "belügen": ü.

"beklagen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "belügen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beklagen ← bbeklagen · bekalgen · bekklagen · beklaegn · beklagenn · beklaggen · beklagne · beklgaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "beklagen" and "belügen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈklaːɡn̩] versus [bəˈlyːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "beklagen" or "belügen" show up more?
"beklagen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,428 in our German list, against #31,957 for "belügen". 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 "belügen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,451,034 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beklagen" and "belügen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "belügen vs Blusen". 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 #1,451,034 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