beherrschevsbeherrschenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#39,827
“beherrsche” frequency rank
#6,639
“beherrschen” frequency rank
46466
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beherrsche beherrschen
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs beherrschen Macht über jemand oder etwas ausüben

Where the eye mixes beherrsche and beherrschen

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

10 ch
beherrsche
11 ch
beherrschen

Look-alike desk: beherrsche vs beherrschen

A purely visual mix-up. beherrsche ([bəˈhɛʁʃə]) and beherrschen ([bəˈhɛʁʃn̩]) 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) - “beherrsche” sits inside “beherrschen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46466, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beherrsche is recorded at frequency rank #39,827, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈhɛʁʃə]. beherrschen is at rank #6,639, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈhɛʁʃn̩].

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 46466, this pair ranks #1,318,152 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of beherrsche vs beherrschen

Shared letters: bcehrs. Private to "beherrsche": -. Private to "beherrschen": n.

"beherrsche" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCCCV  ·  "beherrschen" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beherrsche ← bbeherrsche · beehrrsche · beherrcshe · beherrscche · beherrsceh · beherrschhe · beherrshce · beherrssche
  • beherrschen ← bbeherrschen · beehrrschen · beherrcshen · beherrscchen · beherrscehn · beherrschenn · beherrschhen · beherrschne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "beherrsche" and "beherrschen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈhɛʁʃə] versus [bəˈhɛʁʃn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "beherrsche" or "beherrschen"?
"beherrschen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,639 in our German list, against #39,827 for "beherrsche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "beherrsche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beherrschen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,318,152 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beherrsche" and "beherrschen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beherrsche vs beherrschten". 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 #1,318,152 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