Which to use
“beam” and “bekam” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,825
- “beam” frequency rank
- #1,690
- “bekam” frequency rank
- 41515
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | beam | bekam |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs beamen | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs bekommen |
Where the eye mixes beam and bekam
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. beam runs 4 letters (CVVC) against bekam's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: beam vs bekam
A purely visual mix-up. beam ([biːm]) and bekam ([bəˈkaːm]) 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 41515, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
beam is recorded at frequency rank #39,825, classified as averb, pronounced [biːm]. bekam is at rank #1,690, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈkaːm].
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 41515, this pair ranks #1,477,125 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of beam vs bekam
Shared letters: abem. Private to "beam": -. Private to "bekam": k.
"beam" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "bekam" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "beam" and "bekam" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "beam" or "bekam" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "beam" and "bekam" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "beam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bekam" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,477,125 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "beam" and "bekam" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beam vs bread". 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 #1,477,125 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.