Which to use
“befassen” is a verb and “befassten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,441
- “befassen” frequency rank
- #33,463
- “befassten” frequency rank
- 40904
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | befassen | befassten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich mit etwas stark auseinandersetzen/beschäftigen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs befasst |
Where the eye mixes befassen and befassten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. befassen runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against befassten's 9 (CVCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: befassen vs befassten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: befassen is [bəˈfasn̩] while befassten is [bəˈfastn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40904, 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]. befassten is at rank #33,463, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈfastn̩].
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 40904, this pair ranks #1,494,965 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of befassen vs befassten
Shared letters: abefns. Private to "befassen": -. Private to "befassten": t.
"befassen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "befassten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "befassen" and "befassten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "befassen" or "befassten"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "befassen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "befassten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,494,965 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "befassen" and "befassten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "befassten vs bewussten". 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 #1,494,965 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.