bei vs by, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“bei” and “by” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#35,376
“bei” frequency rank: #2,381
“by” frequency rank: 37757
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	bei	by
Definition	Cerca de, junto a.	A, en.

Where the eye mixes bei and by

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch

bei

2 ch

Visual trap between bei and by

A purely visual mix-up. bei ([baɪ]) and by ([bɛi]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bei is recorded at frequency rank #35,376, classified as aprep, pronounced [baɪ]. by is at rank #2,381, tagged as aprep, pronounced [bɛi].

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 37757, this pair ranks #173,646 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bei vs by

Shared letters: b. Private to "bei": ei. Private to "by": y.

"bei" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "by" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bei" and "by" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([baɪ] versus [bɛi]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Frequency check: "bei" vs "by" - which ranks higher?

"by" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,381 in our Spanish list, against #35,376 for "bei". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

Full dictionary entry for "bei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "by" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #173,646 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"bei" and "by" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bei vs brie". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #173,646 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.