Which to use
“belieben” and “beliefen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,042
- “belieben” frequency rank
- #34,544
- “beliefen” frequency rank
- 49586
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | belieben | beliefen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Lust haben, etwas zu tun | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs belaufen |
Where the eye mixes belieben and beliefen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses belieben with beliefen
A purely visual mix-up. belieben ([bəˈliːbn̩]) 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 a single letter - b in “belieben” becomes f in “beliefen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49586, 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]. 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 49586, this pair ranks #1,205,861 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of belieben vs beliefen
Shared letters: beiln. Private to "belieben": -. Private to "beliefen": f.
"belieben" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "beliefen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "belieben" for "beliefen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "belieben" or "beliefen"?
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 "beliefen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,205,861 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "belieben" 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 #1,205,861 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.