Which to use
“begründen” is a verb and “begründeten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,875
- “begründen” frequency rank
- #15,306
- “begründeten” frequency rank
- 23181
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | begründen | begründeten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einen Grund, eine Ursache für etwas benennen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs begründet |
Where the eye mixes begründen and begründeten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. begründen runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against begründeten's 11 (CVCCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between begründen and begründeten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: begründen is [bəˈɡʁʏndn̩] while begründeten is [bəˈɡʁʏndətn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23181, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
begründen is recorded at frequency rank #7,875, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈɡʁʏndn̩]. begründeten is at rank #15,306, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈɡʁʏndətn̩].
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 23181, this pair ranks #1,864,713 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of begründen vs begründeten
Shared letters: bdegnrü. Private to "begründen": -. Private to "begründeten": t.
"begründen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "begründeten" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "begründen" and "begründeten" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "begründen" or "begründeten"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "begründen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "begründeten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,864,713 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "begründen" and "begründeten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "begründen vs Bekunden". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,864,713 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.