Which to use
“begehen” and “belegen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,579
- “begehen” frequency rank
- #4,101
- “belegen” frequency rank
- 11680
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | begehen | belegen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Objekt beschreiten, um es zu inspizieren; auf etwas zu Fuß gehen | den Beweis für etwas erbringen |
Where the eye mixes begehen and belegen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. begehen and belegen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses begehen with belegen
A purely visual mix-up. begehen ([bəˈɡeːən]) and belegen ([bəˈleːɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11680, 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]. belegen is at rank #4,101, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈleːɡn̩].
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 11680, this pair ranks #1,968,520 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of begehen vs belegen
Shared letters: begn. Private to "begehen": h. Private to "belegen": l.
"begehen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "belegen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "begehen" and "belegen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "begehen" or "belegen"?
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 "begehen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "belegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,968,520 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "begehen" and "belegen" 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 #1,968,520 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.