BegegnungvsBegegnungenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,592
“Begegnung” frequency rank
#8,176
“Begegnungen” frequency rank
12768
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Begegnung Begegnungen
Definition Zusammentreffen von Personen, Fahrzeugen oder anderen Objekten Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Begegnung

Where the eye mixes Begegnung and Begegnungen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. Begegnung runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCC) against Begegnungen's 11 (CVCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
Begegnung
11 ch
Begegnungen

Look-alike desk: Begegnung vs Begegnungen

A purely visual mix-up. Begegnung ([bəˈɡeːɡnʊŋ]) and Begegnungen ([bəˈɡeːɡnʊŋən]) 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) - “Begegnung” sits inside “Begegnungen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12768, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Begegnung is recorded at frequency rank #4,592, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈɡeːɡnʊŋ]. Begegnungen is at rank #8,176, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈɡeːɡnʊŋən].

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 12768, this pair ranks #1,962,155 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Begegnung vs Begegnungen

Shared letters: begnu. Private to "Begegnung": -. Private to "Begegnungen": -.

"Begegnung" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC  ·  "Begegnungen" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Begegnung ← bbegegnung · beeggnung · begeggnung · begegnnug · begegnnung · begegnugn · begegnungg · begegnunng
  • Begegnungen ← bbegegnungen · beeggnungen · begeggnungen · begegnnugen · begegnnungen · begegnugnen · begegnunegn · begegnungenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Begegnung" and "Begegnungen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈɡeːɡnʊŋ] versus [bəˈɡeːɡnʊŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Begegnung" vs "Begegnungen" - which ranks higher?
"Begegnung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,592 in our German list, against #8,176 for "Begegnungen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Begegnung" and "Begegnungen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Begegnung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Begegnungen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,962,155 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Begegnung" and "Begegnungen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Begegnung vs Belegung". 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 #1,962,155 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