bietenvsbildenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,317
“bieten” frequency rank
#1,625
“bilden” frequency rank
2942
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bieten bilden
Definition kundtun, dass man etwas zu leisten bereit ist; etwas zur Verfügung oder in Aussicht stellen, etwas zusichern etwas zustande kommen, entstehen lassen

Where the eye mixes bieten and bilden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
bieten
6 ch
bilden

Visual trap between bieten and bilden

A purely visual mix-up. bieten ([ˈbiːtn̩]) and bilden ([ˈbɪldn̩]) 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 2942, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bieten is recorded at frequency rank #1,317, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbiːtn̩]. bilden is at rank #1,625, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbɪldn̩].

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 2942, this pair ranks #2,001,272 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bieten vs bilden

Shared letters: bein. Private to "bieten": t. Private to "bilden": dl.

"bieten" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "bilden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bietenbbieten · beiten · bieetn · bietenn · bietne · bietten · biteen · ibeten
  • bildenbbilden · bidlen · bildden · bildenn · bildne · biledn · billden · bliden

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bieten" and "bilden" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbiːtn̩] versus [ˈbɪldn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bieten" or "bilden"?
"bieten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,317 in our German list, against #1,625 for "bilden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "bieten" and "bilden" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bieten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bilden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,001,272 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bieten" and "bilden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bieres vs bieten". 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 #2,001,272 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