belebtenvsbeliebtenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#32,946
“belebten” frequency rank
#8,685
“beliebten” frequency rank
41631
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature belebten beliebten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs belebt Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs beliebt

Where the eye mixes belebten and beliebten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. belebten runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against beliebten's 9 (CVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
belebten
9 ch
beliebten

Why the eye confuses belebten with beliebten

A purely visual mix-up. belebten ([bəˈleːptn̩]) and beliebten ([bəˈliːptn̩]) 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 41631, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

belebten is recorded at frequency rank #32,946, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈleːptn̩]. beliebten is at rank #8,685, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈliːptn̩].

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 41631, this pair ranks #1,473,639 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of belebten vs beliebten

Shared letters: belnt. Private to "belebten": -. Private to "beliebten": i.

"belebten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "beliebten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • belebtenbbelebten · beelbten · belbeten · belebbten · belebetn · belebtenn · belebtne · belebtten
  • beliebtenbbeliebten · beilebten · beleibten · belibeten · beliebbten · beliebetn · beliebtenn · beliebtne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "belebten" for "beliebten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈleːptn̩] versus [bəˈliːptn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "belebten" or "beliebten" show up more?
"beliebten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,685 in our German list, against #32,946 for "belebten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "belebten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beliebten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,473,639 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "belebten" and "beliebten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "belebte vs belebten". 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 #1,473,639 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