Which to use
“beleben” and “belieben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,523
- “beleben” frequency rank
- #15,042
- “belieben” frequency rank
- 35565
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | beleben | belieben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemand oder etwas zum Leben erwecken | Lust haben, etwas zu tun |
Where the eye mixes beleben and belieben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. beleben runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against belieben's 8 (CVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between beleben and belieben
A purely visual mix-up. beleben ([bəˈleːbn̩]) and belieben ([bəˈliːbn̩]) 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 35565, 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]. belieben is at rank #15,042, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈliːbn̩].
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 35565, this pair ranks #1,636,942 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of beleben vs belieben
Shared letters: beln. Private to "beleben": -. Private to "belieben": i.
"beleben" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "belieben" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "beleben" and "belieben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "beleben" or "belieben" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "beleben" and "belieben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "beleben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "belieben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,636,942 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "beleben" and "belieben" 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 #1,636,942 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.