BelegvsbeliefWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#8,990
“Beleg” frequency rank
#21,188
“belief” frequency rank
30178
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Beleg belief
Definition ein Beweis, ein Nachweis 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs belaufen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Beleg and belief apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Beleg
6 ch
belief

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Beleg is [bəˈleːk] while belief is [bəˈliːf]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30178, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Beleg is recorded at frequency rank #8,990, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈleːk]. belief is at rank #21,188, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈliːf].

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 30178, this pair ranks #1,752,898 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Beleg vs belief

Shared letters: bel. Private to "Beleg": g. Private to "belief": fi.

"Beleg" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "belief" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Belegbbeleg · beelg · belegg · belge · belleg · bleeg · ebleg
  • beliefbbelief · beilef · beleif · belieff · belife · bellief · bleief · eblief

Frequency comparison

Beleg#8,990
belief#21,188

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Beleg" and "belief" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Beleg" is a noun and "belief" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Beleg" or "belief"?
"Beleg" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,990 in our German list, against #21,188 for "belief". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Beleg vs belief

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Beleg”; for a verb, it's “belief”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Beleg” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list