Which to use
“begehen” and “begehren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,579
- “begehen” frequency rank
- #18,828
- “begehren” frequency rank
- 26407
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | begehen | begehren |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Objekt beschreiten, um es zu inspizieren; auf etwas zu Fuß gehen | nach jemandem oder etwas großes (sexuelles) Verlangen haben, jemanden oder etwas sehr gern haben wollen |
Where the eye mixes begehen and begehren
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. begehen runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against begehren's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses begehen with begehren
A purely visual mix-up. begehen ([bəˈɡeːən]) and begehren ([bəˈɡeːʁən]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26407, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
begehen is recorded at frequency rank #7,579, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡeːən]. begehren is at rank #18,828, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡeːʁən].
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 26407, this pair ranks #1,818,597 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of begehen vs begehren
Shared letters: beghn. Private to "begehen": -. Private to "begehren": r.
"begehen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "begehren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "begehen" and "begehren" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "begehen" or "begehren"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "begehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "begehren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,818,597 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "begehen" and "begehren" 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 #1,818,597 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.