beginnendenvsbegonnenenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#15,038
“beginnenden” frequency rank
#25,463
“begonnenen” frequency rank
40501
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beginnenden begonnenen
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs beginnend Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs begonnen

Where the eye mixes beginnenden and begonnenen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. beginnenden runs 11 letters (CVCVCCVCCVC) against begonnenen's 10 (CVCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
beginnenden
10 ch
begonnenen

Why the eye confuses beginnenden with begonnenen

A purely visual mix-up. beginnenden ([bəˈɡɪnəndn̩]) and begonnenen ([bəˈɡɔnənən]) 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 40501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beginnenden is recorded at frequency rank #15,038, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈɡɪnəndn̩]. begonnenen is at rank #25,463, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈɡɔnənən].

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 40501, this pair ranks #1,506,628 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of beginnenden vs begonnenen

Shared letters: begn. Private to "beginnenden": di. Private to "begonnenen": o.

"beginnenden" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVC  ·  "begonnenen" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beginnendenbbeginnenden · begginnenden · beginenden · beginennden · beginnednen · beginnendden · beginnendenn · beginnendne
  • begonnenenbbegonnenen · beggonnenen · begnonenen · begonenen · begonennen · begonneenn · begonnenenn · begonnennen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "beginnenden" and "begonnenen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈɡɪnəndn̩] versus [bəˈɡɔnənən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "beginnenden" or "begonnenen" show up more?
"beginnenden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,038 in our German list, against #25,463 for "begonnenen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "beginnenden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "begonnenen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,506,628 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beginnenden" and "begonnenen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "begangenen vs begonnenen". 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 #1,506,628 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