befallen
[bəˈfalən]
The verdict
“befallen” is a moderately-common German word, ranked #18,489 in German word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #18,489
- frequency rank, German
- 8
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - von etwas betroffen
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | befallen |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [bəˈfalən] |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #18,489 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “befallen” sits in German frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The German entry for befallen is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [bəˈfalən]. Corpus data places it at rank #18,489 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "von etwas betroffen".
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for befallen, with forms such as "bbefallen", "beafllen", and "befaleln". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 15 confusable-pair relationships, "bellen", "bemalen", "bezahlen", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is befallen, spelled B-E-F-A-L-L-E-N.
Definition
- 1von etwas betroffen
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbefallen,beafllen,befaleln,befalen,befallenn,befallne,beffallen,beflalen,bfeallen,ebfallen
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of befallen - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "befallen"?
What does "befallen" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "befallen"?
How do you pronounce "befallen"?
What language does "befallen" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “befallen”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is B-E-F-A-L-L-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [bəˈfalən] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “bellen” - see the side-by-side comparison. befallen vs bellen
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.