beginnevsbeginnenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#11,607
“beginne” frequency rank
#1,722
“beginnen” frequency rank
13329
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beginne beginnen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs beginnen etwas in Gang setzen, etwas starten, etwas anfangen

Where the eye mixes beginne and beginnen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. beginne runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against beginnen's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
beginne
8 ch
beginnen

Look-alike desk: beginne vs beginnen

A purely visual mix-up. beginne ([bəˈɡɪnə]) and beginnen ([bəˈɡɪnən]) 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 extra letter(s) - “beginne” sits inside “beginnen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13329, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beginne is recorded at frequency rank #11,607, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡɪnə]. beginnen is at rank #1,722, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡɪnən].

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 13329, this pair ranks #1,958,676 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beginne vs beginnen

Shared letters: begin. Private to "beginne": -. Private to "beginnen": -.

"beginne" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "beginnen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beginne ← bbeginne · begginne · begine · begnine · beignne · bgeinne · ebginne
  • beginnen ← bbeginnen · begginnen · beginen · beginenn · beginnenn · beginnne · begninen · beignnen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "beginne" and "beginnen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈɡɪnə] versus [bəˈɡɪnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "beginne" or "beginnen"?
"beginnen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,722 in our German list, against #11,607 for "beginne". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "beginne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beginnen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,958,676 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beginne" and "beginnen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "begingen vs beginne". 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 #1,958,676 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