beherrschtvsbeherrschteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,443
“beherrscht” frequency rank
#20,520
“beherrschte” frequency rank
27963
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beherrscht beherrschte
Definition sich in der Gewalt haben, seine Gefühle / Emotionen unter Kontrolle haben, kontrolliert sein Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs beherrscht

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set beherrscht and beherrschte apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
beherrscht
11 ch
beherrschte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. beherrscht ([bəˈhɛʁʃt]) and beherrschte ([bəˈhɛʁʃtə]) 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) - “beherrscht” sits inside “beherrschte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27963, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beherrscht is recorded at frequency rank #7,443, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈhɛʁʃt]. 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 27963, this pair ranks #1,792,898 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beherrscht vs beherrschte

Shared letters: bcehrst. Private to "beherrscht": -. Private to "beherrschte": -.

"beherrscht" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCCCC  ·  "beherrschte" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCCCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beherrschtbbeherrscht · beehrrscht · beherrcsht · beherrsccht · beherrschht · beherrschtt · beherrscth · beherrshct
  • beherrschtebbeherrschte · beehrrschte · beherrcshte · beherrscchte · beherrschet · beherrschhte · beherrschtte · beherrscthe

Frequency comparison

beherrscht#7,443
beherrschte#20,520

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "beherrscht" and "beherrschte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈhɛʁʃt] versus [bəˈhɛʁʃtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "beherrscht" or "beherrschte"?
"beherrscht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,443 in our German list, against #20,520 for "beherrschte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering beherrscht vs beherrschte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “beherrscht” 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