Which to use
“beherrschen” is a verb and “beherrscht” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,639
- “beherrschen” frequency rank
- #7,443
- “beherrscht” frequency rank
- 14082
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | beherrschen | beherrscht |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Macht über jemand oder etwas ausüben | sich in der Gewalt haben, seine Gefühle / Emotionen unter Kontrolle haben, kontrolliert sein |
Where the eye mixes beherrschen and beherrscht
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. beherrschen runs 11 letters (CVCVCCCCCVC) against beherrscht's 10 (CVCVCCCCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between beherrschen and beherrscht
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: beherrschen is [bəˈhɛʁʃn̩] while beherrscht is [bəˈhɛʁʃt]. 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 14082, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
beherrschen is recorded at frequency rank #6,639, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈhɛʁʃn̩]. beherrscht is at rank #7,443, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈhɛʁʃt].
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 14082, this pair ranks #1,953,682 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of beherrschen vs beherrscht
Shared letters: bcehrs. Private to "beherrschen": n. Private to "beherrscht": t.
"beherrschen" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCCCCVC · "beherrscht" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- beherrschen ← bbeherrschen · beehrrschen · beherrcshen · beherrscchen · beherrscehn · beherrschenn · beherrschhen · beherrschne
- beherrscht ← bbeherrscht · beehrrscht · beherrcsht · beherrsccht · beherrschht · beherrschtt · beherrscth · beherrshct
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "beherrschen" and "beherrscht" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "beherrschen" or "beherrscht" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "beherrschen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "beherrscht" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,953,682 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "beherrschen" and "beherrscht" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beherrschen vs beherrschende". 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 #1,953,682 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.