belassenvsbelässtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,031
“belassen” frequency rank
#45,163
“belässt” frequency rank
57194
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature belassen belässt
Definition etwas unangetastet, unverändert lassen 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs belassen

Where the eye mixes belassen and belässt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. belassen runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against belässt's 7 (CVCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
belassen
7 ch
belässt

Why the eye confuses belassen with belässt

A purely visual mix-up. belassen ([bəˈlasn̩]) and belässt ([bəˈlɛst]) 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 57194, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

belassen is recorded at frequency rank #12,031, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈlasn̩]. belässt is at rank #45,163, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈlɛst].

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 57194, this pair ranks #910,814 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of belassen vs belässt

Shared letters: bels. Private to "belassen": an. Private to "belässt": tä.

"belassen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "belässt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • belassen ← bbelassen · bealssen · belasen · belasesn · belassenn · belassne · belaßen · bellassen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "belassen" and "belässt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈlasn̩] versus [bəˈlɛst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "belassen" or "belässt" show up more?
"belassen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,031 in our German list, against #45,163 for "belässt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "belassen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "belässt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #910,814 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "belassen" and "belässt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "belässt vs bemisst". 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 #910,814 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