beginnenvsbeginntTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,722
“beginnen” frequency rank
#962
“beginnt” frequency rank
2684
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beginnen beginnt
Definition etwas in Gang setzen, etwas starten, etwas anfangen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs beginnen

Where the eye mixes beginnen and beginnt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
beginnen
7 ch
beginnt

Visual trap between beginnen and beginnt

A purely visual mix-up. beginnen ([bəˈɡɪnən]) and beginnt ([bəˈɡɪnt]) 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 2684, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beginnen is recorded at frequency rank #1,722, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡɪnən]. beginnt is at rank #962, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡɪnt].

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 2684, this pair ranks #2,001,804 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beginnen vs beginnt

Shared letters: begin. Private to "beginnen": -. Private to "beginnt": t.

"beginnen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "beginnt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beginnenbbeginnen · begginnen · beginen · beginenn · beginnenn · beginnne · begninen · beignnen
  • beginntbbeginnt · begginnt · beginntt · begint · begintn · begnint · beignnt · bgeinnt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "beginnen" and "beginnt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈɡɪnən] versus [bəˈɡɪnt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "beginnen" or "beginnt" show up more?
"beginnt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #962 in our German list, against #1,722 for "beginnen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "beginnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beginnt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,001,804 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beginnen" and "beginnt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "begingen vs beginnen". 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 #2,001,804 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