Which to use
“begegnet” and “begegneten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,864
- “begegnet” frequency rank
- #30,943
- “begegneten” frequency rank
- 35807
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | begegnet | begegneten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs begegnen | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs begegnen |
Where the eye mixes begegnet and begegneten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. begegnet runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against begegneten's 10 (CVCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses begegnet with begegneten
A purely visual mix-up. begegnet ([bəˈɡeːɡnət]) and begegneten ([bəˈɡeːɡnətn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “begegnet” sits inside “begegneten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35807, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
begegnet is recorded at frequency rank #4,864, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡeːɡnət]. begegneten is at rank #30,943, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡeːɡnətn̩].
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 35807, this pair ranks #1,631,044 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of begegnet vs begegneten
Shared letters: begnt. Private to "begegnet": -. Private to "begegneten": -.
"begegnet" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "begegneten" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- begegnet ← bbegegnet · beeggnet · begegent · begeggnet · begegnett · begegnnet · begegnte · begenget
- begegneten ← bbegegneten · beeggneten · begegenten · begeggneten · begegneetn · begegnetenn · begegnetne · begegnetten
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "begegnet" for "begegneten" ever safe?
Which is more common, "begegnet" or "begegneten"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "begegnet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "begegneten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,631,044 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "begegnet" and "begegneten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "begegnete vs begegneten". 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 #1,631,044 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.