Which to use
“belaufen” is an adjective and “betäuben” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,439
- “belaufen” frequency rank
- #46,525
- “betäuben” frequency rank
- 69964
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | belaufen | betäuben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | von Menschen zu Fuß genutzt | (für bestimmte Zeit) gegen Empfindungen, insbesondere Schmerz, teilweise oder vollständig unempfindlich machen; taub machen |
Where the eye mixes belaufen and betäuben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between belaufen and betäuben
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: belaufen is [bəˈlaʊ̯fn̩] while betäuben is [bəˈtɔɪ̯bn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69964, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
belaufen is recorded at frequency rank #23,439, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈlaʊ̯fn̩]. betäuben is at rank #46,525, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈtɔɪ̯bn̩].
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 69964, this pair ranks #460,631 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of belaufen vs betäuben
Shared letters: benu. Private to "belaufen": afl. Private to "betäuben": tä.
"belaufen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "betäuben" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- belaufen ← bbelaufen · bealufen · belafuen · belauefn · belaufenn · belauffen · belaufne · bellaufen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "belaufen" for "betäuben" ever safe?
Which is more common, "belaufen" or "betäuben"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "belaufen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "betäuben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #460,631 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "belaufen" and "betäuben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "besaufen vs betäuben". 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 #460,631 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.