Which to use
“bannen” and “begannen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,543
- “bannen” frequency rank
- #5,804
- “begannen” frequency rank
- 34347
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bannen | begannen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas Unerwünschtes fernhalten | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs beginnen |
Where the eye mixes bannen and begannen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. bannen runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against begannen's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between bannen and begannen
A purely visual mix-up. bannen ([ˈbanən]) and begannen ([bəˈɡanən]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34347, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bannen is recorded at frequency rank #28,543, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbanən]. begannen is at rank #5,804, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡanən].
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 34347, this pair ranks #1,665,378 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bannen vs begannen
Shared letters: aben. Private to "bannen": -. Private to "begannen": g.
"bannen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "begannen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bannen" and "begannen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "bannen" vs "begannen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bannen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "begannen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,665,378 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bannen" and "begannen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bannen vs bonne". 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 #1,665,378 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.