Which to use
“begeben” and “begehen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,638
- “begeben” frequency rank
- #7,579
- “begehen” frequency rank
- 14217
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | begeben | begehen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | geschehen, sich ereignen | ein Objekt beschreiten, um es zu inspizieren; auf etwas zu Fuß gehen |
Where the eye mixes begeben and begehen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses begeben with begehen
A purely visual mix-up. begeben ([bəˈɡeːbn̩]) and begehen ([bəˈɡeːən]) 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 - b in “begeben” becomes h in “begehen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14217, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
begeben is recorded at frequency rank #6,638, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡeːbn̩]. begehen is at rank #7,579, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡeːən].
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 14217, this pair ranks #1,952,767 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of begeben vs begehen
Shared letters: begn. Private to "begeben": -. Private to "begehen": h.
"begeben" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "begehen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "begeben" for "begehen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "begeben" vs "begehen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "begeben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "begehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,952,767 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "begeben" and "begehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "begebe vs begehen". 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 #1,952,767 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.