belebenvsBelebungWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: beleben is a verb, Belebung is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“beleben” is a verb and “Belebung” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,523
“beleben” frequency rank
#29,955
“Belebung” frequency rank
50478
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beleben Belebung
Definition jemand oder etwas zum Leben erwecken das Beleben, das Belebtwerden

Where the eye mixes beleben and Belebung

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

7 ch
beleben
8 ch
Belebung

Why the eye confuses beleben with Belebung

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: beleben is [bəˈleːbn̩] while Belebung is [bəˈleːbʊŋ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50478, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beleben is recorded at frequency rank #20,523, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈleːbn̩]. Belebung is at rank #29,955, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈleːbʊŋ].

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 50478, this pair ranks #1,172,207 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of beleben vs Belebung

Shared letters: beln. Private to "beleben": -. Private to "Belebung": gu.

"beleben" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "Belebung" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • belebenbbeleben · beelben · belbeen · belebben · belebenn · belebne · beleebn · belleben
  • Belebungbbelebung · beelbung · belbeung · belebbung · belebnug · belebugn · belebungg · belebunng

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "beleben" and "Belebung" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "beleben" is a verb and "Belebung" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "beleben" or "Belebung" show up more?
"beleben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,523 in our German list, against #29,955 for "Belebung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "beleben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Belebung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,172,207 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beleben" and "Belebung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "begebe vs beleben". 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 #1,172,207 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