Which to use
“begannen” and “begonnen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,804
- “begannen” frequency rank
- #2,137
- “begonnen” frequency rank
- 7941
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | begannen | begonnen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs beginnen | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs beginnen |
Where the eye mixes begannen and begonnen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. begannen and begonnen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: begannen vs begonnen
A purely visual mix-up. begannen ([bəˈɡanən]) and begonnen ([bəˈɡɔnən]) 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 a single letter - a in “begannen” becomes o in “begonnen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7941, 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]. begonnen is at rank #2,137, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡɔnən].
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 7941, this pair ranks #1,986,247 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of begannen vs begonnen
Shared letters: begn. Private to "begannen": a. Private to "begonnen": o.
"begannen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "begonnen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "begannen" and "begonnen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "begannen" or "begonnen"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "begannen" and "begonnen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "begannen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "begonnen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,986,247 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "begannen" and "begonnen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "begangene vs begannen". 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 #1,986,247 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.