befasstevsbefasstenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#21,899
“befasste” frequency rank
#33,463
“befassten” frequency rank
55362
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature befasste befassten
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs befasst Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs befasst

Where the eye mixes befasste and befassten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
befasste
9 ch
befassten

Visual trap between befasste and befassten

A purely visual mix-up. befasste ([bəˈfastə]) and befassten ([bəˈfastn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “befasste” sits inside “befassten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

befasste is recorded at frequency rank #21,899, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈfastə]. 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 55362, this pair ranks #982,565 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of befasste vs befassten

Shared letters: abefst. Private to "befasste": -. Private to "befassten": n.

"befasste" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV  ·  "befassten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • befasstebbefasste · beafsste · befasset · befasstte · befaste · befastse · befaßte · beffasste
  • befasstenbbefassten · beafssten · befassetn · befasstenn · befasstne · befasstten · befasten · befastsen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "befasste" and "befassten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈfastə] versus [bəˈfastn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "befasste" or "befassten" show up more?
"befasste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,899 in our German list, against #33,463 for "befassten". 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 "befasste" 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 #982,565 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "befasste" and "befassten" 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 #982,565 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