Which to use
“bezahle” is a verb and “bezahlten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,316
- “bezahle” frequency rank
- #13,563
- “bezahlten” frequency rank
- 28879
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bezahle | bezahlten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bezahlen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs bezahlt |
Where the eye mixes bezahle and bezahlten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. bezahle runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against bezahlten's 9 (CVCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between bezahle and bezahlten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bezahle is [bəˈt͡saːlə] while bezahlten is [bəˈt͡saːltn̩]. 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 28879, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bezahle is recorded at frequency rank #15,316, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈt͡saːlə]. bezahlten is at rank #13,563, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈt͡saːltn̩].
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 28879, this pair ranks #1,776,941 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bezahle vs bezahlten
Shared letters: abehlz. Private to "bezahle": -. Private to "bezahlten": nt.
"bezahle" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "bezahlten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bezahle" and "bezahlten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "bezahle" or "bezahlten" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bezahle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bezahlten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,776,941 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bezahle" and "bezahlten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bezahle 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 #1,776,941 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.