begegnenvsbegegnetWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“begegnen” and “begegnet” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,146
“begegnen” frequency rank
#4,864
“begegnet” frequency rank
10010
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature begegnen begegnet
Definition jemanden, meist eher zufällig, treffen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs begegnen

Where the eye mixes begegnen and begegnet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
begegnen
8 ch
begegnet

Why the eye confuses begegnen with begegnet

A purely visual mix-up. begegnen ([bəˈɡeːɡnən]) and begegnet ([bəˈɡeːɡnət]) 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 - n in “begegnen” becomes t in “begegnet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10010, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

begegnen is recorded at frequency rank #5,146, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡeːɡnən]. begegnet is at rank #4,864, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡeːɡnət].

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 10010, this pair ranks #1,977,220 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of begegnen vs begegnet

Shared letters: begn. Private to "begegnen": -. Private to "begegnet": t.

"begegnen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "begegnet" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • begegnenbbegegnen · beeggnen · begegenn · begeggnen · begegnenn · begegnne · begegnnen · begengen
  • begegnetbbegegnet · beeggnet · begegent · begeggnet · begegnett · begegnnet · begegnte · begenget

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "begegnen" and "begegnet" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈɡeːɡnən] versus [bəˈɡeːɡnət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "begegnen" vs "begegnet" - which ranks higher?
"begegnet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,864 in our German list, against #5,146 for "begegnen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "begegnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "begegnet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,977,220 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "begegnen" and "begegnet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "begegne vs begegnen". 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 #1,977,220 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list