Which to use
“beam” and “bekäme” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,825
- “beam” frequency rank
- #20,522
- “bekäme” frequency rank
- 60347
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | beam | bekäme |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs beamen | 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs bekommen |
Where the eye mixes beam and bekäme
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. beam runs 4 letters (CVVC) against bekäme's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between beam and bekäme
A purely visual mix-up. beam ([biːm]) and bekäme ([bəˈkɛːmə]) 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 60347, 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]. bekäme is at rank #20,522, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈkɛːmə].
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 60347, this pair ranks #790,390 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of beam vs bekäme
Shared letters: bem. Private to "beam": a. Private to "bekäme": kä.
"beam" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "bekäme" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- beam ← baem · bbeam · beamm · bema · ebam
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "beam" for "bekäme" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "beam" or "bekäme" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "beam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bekäme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #790,390 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "beam" and "bekäme" 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 #790,390 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.