Which to use
“befassen” is a verb and “befasste” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,441
- “befassen” frequency rank
- #21,899
- “befasste” frequency rank
- 29340
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | befassen | befasste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich mit etwas stark auseinandersetzen/beschäftigen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs befasst |
Where the eye mixes befassen and befasste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. befassen (CVCVCCVC) and befasste (CVCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses befassen with befasste
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: befassen is [bəˈfasn̩] while befasste is [bəˈfastə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29340, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
befassen is recorded at frequency rank #7,441, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈfasn̩]. befasste is at rank #21,899, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈfastə].
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 29340, this pair ranks #1,768,631 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of befassen vs befasste
Shared letters: abefs. Private to "befassen": n. Private to "befasste": t.
"befassen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "befasste" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "befassen" for "befasste" ever safe?
Frequency check: "befassen" vs "befasste" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "befassen" and "befasste" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "befassen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "befasste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,768,631 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "befassen" and "befasste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "befasste vs belässt". 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 #1,768,631 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.