BedingungvsBesinnungTell them apart

Which to use

“Bedingung” and “Besinnung” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,896
“Bedingung” frequency rank
#29,503
“Besinnung” frequency rank
36399
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bedingung Besinnung
Definition Forderung, von der etwas abhängt Zustand geistiger Präsenz

Where the eye mixes Bedingung and Besinnung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Bedingung and Besinnung follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
Bedingung
9 ch
Besinnung

Visual trap between Bedingung and Besinnung

A purely visual mix-up. Bedingung ([bəˈdɪŋʊŋ]) and Besinnung ([beˈzɪnʊŋ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36399, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bedingung is recorded at frequency rank #6,896, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈdɪŋʊŋ]. Besinnung is at rank #29,503, tagged as anoun, pronounced [beˈzɪnʊŋ].

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 36399, this pair ranks #1,616,594 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Bedingung vs Besinnung

Shared letters: beginu. Private to "Bedingung": d. Private to "Besinnung": s.

"Bedingung" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC  ·  "Besinnung" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bedingung ← bbedingung · bdeingung · beddingung · bedignung · bedinggung · bedingnug · bedingugn · bedingungg
  • Besinnung ← bbesinnung · beisnnung · besinnnug · besinnugn · besinnungg · besinnunng · besinung · besinunng

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Bedingung" and "Besinnung" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈdɪŋʊŋ] versus [beˈzɪnʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Bedingung" or "Besinnung"?
"Bedingung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,896 in our German list, against #29,503 for "Besinnung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Bedingung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Besinnung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,616,594 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Bedingung" and "Besinnung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "besinnen vs Besinnung". 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 #1,616,594 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list