Which to use
“beherrschte” and “beherrschten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,520
- “beherrschte” frequency rank
- #25,062
- “beherrschten” frequency rank
- 45582
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | beherrschte | beherrschten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs beherrscht | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs beherrscht |
Where the eye mixes beherrschte and beherrschten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. beherrschte runs 11 letters (CVCVCCCCCCV) against beherrschten's 12 (CVCVCCCCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between beherrschte and beherrschten
A purely visual mix-up. beherrschte ([bəˈhɛʁʃtə]) and beherrschten ([bəˈhɛʁʃtn̩]) 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) - “beherrschte” sits inside “beherrschten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45582, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
beherrschte is recorded at frequency rank #20,520, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈhɛʁʃtə]. beherrschten is at rank #25,062, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈhɛʁʃtn̩].
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 45582, this pair ranks #1,348,143 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of beherrschte vs beherrschten
Shared letters: bcehrst. Private to "beherrschte": -. Private to "beherrschten": n.
"beherrschte" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCCCCCV · "beherrschten" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCCCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- beherrschte ← bbeherrschte · beehrrschte · beherrcshte · beherrscchte · beherrschet · beherrschhte · beherrschtte · beherrscthe
- beherrschten ← bbeherrschten · beehrrschten · beherrcshten · beherrscchten · beherrschetn · beherrschhten · beherrschtenn · beherrschtne
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "beherrschte" for "beherrschten" ever safe?
Which is more common, "beherrschte" or "beherrschten"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "beherrschte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "beherrschten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,348,143 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "beherrschte" and "beherrschten" 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 #1,348,143 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.