Which to use
“bei” is a preposition and “by” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,777
- “bei” frequency rank
- #2,462
- “by” frequency rank
- 26239
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bei | by |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Près de. | Fossé qui traverse un étang, aboutissant à sa bonde. |
Where the eye mixes bei and by
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between bei and by
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bei is \baɪ̯\ while by is \bi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26239, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bei is recorded at frequency rank #23,777, classified as aprep, pronounced \baɪ̯\. by is at rank #2,462, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bi\.
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 26239, this pair ranks #336,268 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
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?
Frequency check: "bei" vs "by" - which ranks higher?
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 #336,268 of 440,172 scored French 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 ber". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #336,268 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.