bezahlbarvsbezahlterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,221
“bezahlbar” frequency rank
#43,064
“bezahlter” frequency rank
70285
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bezahlbar bezahlter
Definition bezahlt werden könnend Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs bezahlt

Where the eye mixes bezahlbar and bezahlter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. bezahlbar and bezahlter follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
bezahlbar
9 ch
bezahlter

Look-alike desk: bezahlbar vs bezahlter

A purely visual mix-up. bezahlbar ([bəˈt͡saːlbaːɐ̯]) and bezahlter ([bəˈt͡saːltɐ]) 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 70285, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bezahlbar is recorded at frequency rank #27,221, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈt͡saːlbaːɐ̯]. bezahlter is at rank #43,064, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈt͡saːltɐ].

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 70285, this pair ranks #450,882 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bezahlbar vs bezahlter

Shared letters: abehlrz. Private to "bezahlbar": -. Private to "bezahlter": t.

"bezahlbar" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC  ·  "bezahlter" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bezahlbarbbezahlbar · beazhlbar · bezahblar · bezahhlbar · bezahlabr · bezahlbarr · bezahlbbar · bezahlbra
  • bezahlterbbezahlter · beazhlter · bezahhlter · bezahletr · bezahllter · bezahlterr · bezahltre · bezahltter

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bezahlbar" and "bezahlter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈt͡saːlbaːɐ̯] versus [bəˈt͡saːltɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "bezahlbar" or "bezahlter" show up more?
"bezahlbar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,221 in our German list, against #43,064 for "bezahlter". 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 "bezahlbar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bezahlter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #450,882 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bezahlbar" and "bezahlter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bewährter vs bezahlter". 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 #450,882 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