Which to use
“belieben” is a verb and “beliebigen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,042
- “belieben” frequency rank
- #10,050
- “beliebigen” frequency rank
- 25092
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | belieben | beliebigen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Lust haben, etwas zu tun | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs beliebig |
Where the eye mixes belieben and beliebigen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. belieben runs 8 letters (CVCVVCVC) against beliebigen's 10 (CVCVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses belieben with beliebigen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: belieben is [bəˈliːbn̩] while beliebigen is [bəˈliːbɪɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25092, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
belieben is recorded at frequency rank #15,042, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈliːbn̩]. beliebigen is at rank #10,050, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈliːbɪɡn̩].
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 25092, this pair ranks #1,838,268 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of belieben vs beliebigen
Shared letters: beiln. Private to "belieben": -. Private to "beliebigen": g.
"belieben" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "beliebigen" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- belieben ← bbelieben · beileben · beleiben · belibeen · beliebben · beliebenn · beliebne · belieebn
- beliebigen ← bbeliebigen · beilebigen · beleibigen · belibeigen · beliebbigen · beliebgien · beliebiegn · beliebigenn
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "belieben" and "beliebigen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "belieben" or "beliebigen"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "belieben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "beliebigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,838,268 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "belieben" and "beliebigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "belieben 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 #1,838,268 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.