Which to use
“beherrsche” is a verb and “beherrschte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,827
- “beherrsche” frequency rank
- #20,520
- “beherrschte” frequency rank
- 60347
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | beherrsche | beherrschte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs beherrschen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs beherrscht |
Where the eye mixes beherrsche and beherrschte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. beherrsche runs 10 letters (CVCVCCCCCV) against beherrschte's 11 (CVCVCCCCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between beherrsche and beherrschte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: beherrsche is [bəˈhɛʁʃə] while beherrschte is [bəˈhɛʁʃtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 60347, 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]. beherrschte is at rank #20,520, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈhɛʁʃtə].
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 60347, this pair ranks #790,390 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of beherrsche vs beherrschte
Shared letters: bcehrs. Private to "beherrsche": -. Private to "beherrschte": t.
"beherrsche" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCCCV · "beherrschte" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCCCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- beherrsche ← bbeherrsche · beehrrsche · beherrcshe · beherrscche · beherrsceh · beherrschhe · beherrshce · beherrssche
- beherrschte ← bbeherrschte · beehrrschte · beherrcshte · beherrscchte · beherrschet · beherrschhte · beherrschtte · beherrscthe
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "beherrsche" and "beherrschte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "beherrsche" or "beherrschte"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "beherrsche" and "beherrschte" 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 "beherrschte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #790,390 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "beherrsche" and "beherrschte" 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 #790,390 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.