bewahrevsbezahleConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#24,269
“bewahre” frequency rank
#15,316
“bezahle” frequency rank
39585
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bewahre bezahle
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bewahren 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bezahlen

Where the eye mixes bewahre and bezahle

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. bewahre and bezahle follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
bewahre
7 ch
bezahle

Visual trap between bewahre and bezahle

A purely visual mix-up. bewahre ([bəˈvaːʁə]) and bezahle ([bəˈt͡saːlə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39585, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bewahre is recorded at frequency rank #24,269, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈvaːʁə]. bezahle is at rank #15,316, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈt͡saːlə].

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 39585, this pair ranks #1,532,663 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bewahre vs bezahle

Shared letters: abeh. Private to "bewahre": rw. Private to "bezahle": lz.

"bewahre" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "bezahle" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bewahrebbewahre · beawhre · bewaher · bewahhre · bewahrre · bewarhe · bewhare · bewwahre
  • bezahlebbezahle · beazhle · bezahel · bezahhle · bezahlle · bezalhe · bezhale · bezzahle

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bewahre" and "bezahle" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈvaːʁə] versus [bəˈt͡saːlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bewahre" or "bezahle"?
"bezahle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,316 in our German list, against #24,269 for "bewahre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bewahre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bezahle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,532,663 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bewahre" and "bezahle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bewahre vs bewährtes". 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 #1,532,663 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