Which to use
“begeistern” is a verb and “begeisterte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,030
- “begeistern” frequency rank
- #13,777
- “begeisterte” frequency rank
- 21807
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | begeistern | begeisterte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden in große freudige Erregung versetzen; jemandem Hoffnung geben | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs begeistert |
Where the eye mixes begeistern and begeisterte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. begeistern runs 10 letters (CVCVVCCVCC) against begeisterte's 11 (CVCVVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: begeistern vs begeisterte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: begeistern is [bəˈɡaɪ̯stɐn] while begeisterte is [bəˈɡaɪ̯stɐtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21807, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
begeistern is recorded at frequency rank #8,030, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡaɪ̯stɐn]. begeisterte is at rank #13,777, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈɡaɪ̯stɐtə].
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 21807, this pair ranks #1,881,931 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of begeistern vs begeisterte
Shared letters: begirst. Private to "begeistern": n. Private to "begeisterte": -.
"begeistern" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCCVCC · "begeisterte" · 11 letters · shape CVCVVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- begeistern ← bbegeistern · beegistern · begeisetrn · begeisstern · begeistenr · begeisternn · begeisterrn · begeistren
- begeisterte ← bbegeisterte · beegisterte · begeisetrte · begeissterte · begeisteret · begeisterrte · begeistertte · begeistetre
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "begeistern" and "begeisterte" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "begeistern" or "begeisterte"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "begeistern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "begeisterte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,881,931 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "begeistern" and "begeisterte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "begeistern vs Begleitern". 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 #1,881,931 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.