Which to use
“belasten” is a verb and “bemalten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,155
- “belasten” frequency rank
- #40,431
- “bemalten” frequency rank
- 49586
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | belasten | bemalten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | bewirken, dass etwas eine störende oder schädliche Wirkung auf etwas hat | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs bemalt |
Where the eye mixes belasten and bemalten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. belasten and bemalten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: belasten vs bemalten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: belasten is [bəˈlastn̩] while bemalten is [bəˈmaːltn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
belasten is recorded at frequency rank #9,155, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈlastn̩]. bemalten is at rank #40,431, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈmaːltn̩].
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 49586, this pair ranks #1,205,861 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of belasten vs bemalten
Shared letters: abelnt. Private to "belasten": s. Private to "bemalten": m.
"belasten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "bemalten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "belasten" and "bemalten" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "belasten" or "bemalten"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "belasten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bemalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,205,861 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "belasten" and "bemalten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "behaltet vs bemalten". 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 #1,205,861 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.