Which to use
“befürchten” is a verb and “besuchten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,013
- “befürchten” frequency rank
- #9,159
- “besuchten” frequency rank
- 16172
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | befürchten | besuchten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der Ansicht sein, dass etwas Unangenehmes eintreten oder geschehen könnte | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs besucht |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set befürchten and besuchten apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
befürchten and besuchten form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16172, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
befürchten is recorded at frequency rank #7,013, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈfʏʁçtn̩]. besuchten is at rank #9,159, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈzuːxtn̩].
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 16172, this pair ranks #1,937,980 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "befürchten" and "besuchten" be used interchangeably?
Remembering befürchten vs besuchten
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “befürchten”; for an adjective, it's “besuchten”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “befürchten” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable