belegenvsbeliefenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,101
“belegen” frequency rank
#34,544
“beliefen” frequency rank
38645
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature belegen beliefen
Definition den Beweis für etwas erbringen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs belaufen

Where the eye mixes belegen and beliefen

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

7 ch
belegen
8 ch
beliefen

Why the eye confuses belegen with beliefen

A purely visual mix-up. belegen ([bəˈleːɡn̩]) and beliefen ([bəˈliːfn̩]) 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 38645, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

belegen is recorded at frequency rank #4,101, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈleːɡn̩]. beliefen is at rank #34,544, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈliːfn̩].

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 38645, this pair ranks #1,558,442 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of belegen vs beliefen

Shared letters: beln. Private to "belegen": g. Private to "beliefen": fi.

"belegen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "beliefen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • belegenbbelegen · beelgen · beleegn · belegenn · beleggen · belegne · belgeen · bellegen
  • beliefenbbeliefen · beilefen · beleifen · belieefn · beliefenn · belieffen · beliefne · belifeen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "belegen" and "beliefen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈleːɡn̩] versus [bəˈliːfn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "belegen" vs "beliefen" - which ranks higher?
"belegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,101 in our German list, against #34,544 for "beliefen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "belegen" and "beliefen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "belegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beliefen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,558,442 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "belegen" and "beliefen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beliefen vs beliefern". 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 #1,558,442 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