beherrschenvsbeherrschtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: beherrschen is a verb, beherrscht is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set beherrschen and beherrscht apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
beherrschen
10 ch
beherrscht

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • beherrschenbbeherrschen · beehrrschen · beherrcshen · beherrscchen · beherrscehn · beherrschenn · beherrschhen · beherrschne
  • beherrschtbbeherrscht · beehrrscht · beherrcsht · beherrsccht · beherrschht · beherrschtt · beherrscth · beherrshct

Frequency comparison

beherrschen#6,639
beherrscht#7,443

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "beherrschen" and "beherrscht" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "beherrschen" is a verb and "beherrscht" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "beherrschen" or "beherrscht"?
"beherrschen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,639 in our German list, against #7,443 for "beherrscht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering beherrschen vs beherrscht

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “beherrschen”; for an adjective, it's “beherrscht”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “beherrschen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list