Which to use
“begannen” is a verb and “Bekannten” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,804
- “begannen” frequency rank
- #1,584
- “Bekannten” frequency rank
- 7388
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | begannen | Bekannten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs beginnen | Genitiv Singular der starken Flexion des Substantivs Bekannter |
Where the eye mixes begannen and Bekannten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. begannen runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against Bekannten's 9 (CVCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: begannen vs Bekannten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: begannen is [bəˈɡanən] while Bekannten is [bəˈkantn̩]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7388, 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]. Bekannten is at rank #1,584, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈkantn̩].
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 7388, this pair ranks #1,988,344 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of begannen vs Bekannten
Shared letters: aben. Private to "begannen": g. Private to "Bekannten": kt.
"begannen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "Bekannten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "begannen" and "Bekannten" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "begannen" or "Bekannten"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "begannen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Bekannten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,988,344 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "begannen" and "Bekannten" 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 #1,988,344 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.