Which to use
“begannen” and “begingen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,804
- “begannen” frequency rank
- #45,159
- “begingen” frequency rank
- 50963
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | begannen | begingen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs beginnen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs begehen |
Where the eye mixes begannen and begingen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. begannen and begingen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between begannen and begingen
A purely visual mix-up. begannen ([bəˈɡanən]) and begingen ([bəˈɡɪŋən]) 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 50963, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
begannen is recorded at frequency rank #5,804, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡanən]. begingen is at rank #45,159, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡɪŋən].
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 50963, this pair ranks #1,153,743 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of begannen vs begingen
Shared letters: begn. Private to "begannen": a. Private to "begingen": i.
"begannen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "begingen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "begannen" for "begingen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "begannen" vs "begingen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "begannen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "begingen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,153,743 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "begannen" and "begingen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "begangene vs begingen". 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 #1,153,743 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.