Which to use
“beabsichtigen” and “besichtigen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,989
- “beabsichtigen” frequency rank
- #13,106
- “besichtigen” frequency rank
- 51095
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | beabsichtigen | besichtigen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | die Absicht haben, etwas zu tun | an einen bestimmten Ort gehen und etwas (genau) ansehen, um es kennenzulernen |
Where the eye mixes beabsichtigen and besichtigen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. beabsichtigen runs 13 letters (CVVCCVCCCVCVC) against besichtigen's 11 (CVCVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between beabsichtigen and besichtigen
A purely visual mix-up. beabsichtigen ([bəˈʔapzɪçtɪɡn̩]) and besichtigen ([bəˈzɪçtɪɡn̩]) 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 51095, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
beabsichtigen is recorded at frequency rank #37,989, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʔapzɪçtɪɡn̩]. besichtigen is at rank #13,106, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈzɪçtɪɡn̩].
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 51095, this pair ranks #1,148,683 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of beabsichtigen vs besichtigen
Shared letters: bceghinst. Private to "beabsichtigen": a. Private to "besichtigen": -.
"beabsichtigen" · 13 letters · shape CVVCCVCCCVCVC · "besichtigen" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- beabsichtigen ← baebsichtigen · bbeabsichtigen · beabbsichtigen · beabischtigen · beabscihtigen · beabsicchtigen · beabsichhtigen · beabsichitgen
- besichtigen ← bbesichtigen · beischtigen · bescihtigen · besicchtigen · besichhtigen · besichitgen · besichtgien · besichtiegn
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "beabsichtigen" and "besichtigen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "beabsichtigen" or "besichtigen"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "beabsichtigen" and "besichtigen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "beabsichtigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "besichtigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,148,683 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "beabsichtigen" and "besichtigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beabsichtige vs beabsichtigen". 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 #1,148,683 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.