begonnenvsbelohnenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,137
“begonnen” frequency rank
#18,833
“belohnen” frequency rank
20970
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature begonnen belohnen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs beginnen jemandem für eine gute Handlung etwas geben, das er haben möchte

Where the eye mixes begonnen and belohnen

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

8 ch
begonnen
8 ch
belohnen

Visual trap between begonnen and belohnen

A purely visual mix-up. begonnen ([bəˈɡɔnən]) and belohnen ([bəˈloːnən]) 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 20970, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

begonnen is recorded at frequency rank #2,137, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡɔnən]. belohnen is at rank #18,833, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈloːnən].

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 20970, this pair ranks #1,891,673 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of begonnen vs belohnen

Shared letters: beno. Private to "begonnen": g. Private to "belohnen": hl.

"begonnen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "belohnen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • begonnenbbegonnen · beggonnen · begnonen · begonen · begonenn · begonnenn · begonnne · beognnen
  • belohnenbbelohnen · belhonen · bellohnen · belohenn · belohhnen · belohnenn · belohnne · belohnnen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "begonnen" for "belohnen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈɡɔnən] versus [bəˈloːnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "begonnen" vs "belohnen" - which ranks higher?
"begonnen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,137 in our German list, against #18,833 for "belohnen". 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 "begonnen" and "belohnen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "begonnen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "belohnen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,891,673 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "begonnen" and "belohnen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beiwohnen vs belohnen". 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 #1,891,673 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