begrenztevsbegrenztemWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,013
“begrenzte” frequency rank
#47,987
“begrenztem” frequency rank
59000
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature begrenzte begrenztem
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs begrenzt Dativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs begrenzt

Where the eye mixes begrenzte and begrenztem

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

9 ch
begrenzte
10 ch
begrenztem

Why the eye confuses begrenzte with begrenztem

A purely visual mix-up. begrenzte ([bəˈɡʁɛnt͡stə]) and begrenztem ([bəˈɡʁɛnt͡stəm]) 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) - “begrenzte” sits inside “begrenztem”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59000, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

begrenzte is recorded at frequency rank #11,013, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈɡʁɛnt͡stə]. begrenztem is at rank #47,987, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈɡʁɛnt͡stəm].

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 59000, this pair ranks #841,112 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of begrenzte vs begrenztem

Shared letters: begnrtz. Private to "begrenzte": -. Private to "begrenztem": m.

"begrenzte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV  ·  "begrenztem" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • begrenztebbegrenzte · begernzte · beggrenzte · begrennzte · begrentze · begrenzet · begrenztte · begrenzzte
  • begrenztembbegrenztem · begernztem · beggrenztem · begrennztem · begrentzem · begrenzetm · begrenztemm · begrenztme

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "begrenzte" and "begrenztem" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈɡʁɛnt͡stə] versus [bəˈɡʁɛnt͡stəm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "begrenzte" or "begrenztem" show up more?
"begrenzte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,013 in our German list, against #47,987 for "begrenztem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "begrenzte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "begrenztem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #841,112 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "begrenzte" and "begrenztem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "begrenztem vs begrenztes". 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 #841,112 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