BehördevsbesorgeConfusable pair

Quick tell: Behörde is a noun, besorge is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Behörde” is a noun and “besorge” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,798
“Behörde” frequency rank
#30,954
“besorge” frequency rank
34752
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Behörde besorge
Definition Institution, die Aufgaben der öffentlichen Verwaltung wahrnimmt 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs besorgen

Where the eye mixes Behörde and besorge

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

7 ch
Behörde
7 ch
besorge

Why the eye confuses Behörde with besorge

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Behörde is [bəˈhøːɐ̯də] while besorge is [bəˈzɔʁɡə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34752, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Behörde is recorded at frequency rank #3,798, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈhøːɐ̯də]. besorge is at rank #30,954, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈzɔʁɡə].

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 34752, this pair ranks #1,656,124 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Behörde vs besorge

Shared letters: ber. Private to "Behörde": dhö. Private to "besorge": gos.

"Behörde" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "besorge" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • besorgebbesorge · beosrge · besogre · besoreg · besorgge · besorrge · besroge · bessorge

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Behörde" and "besorge" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Behörde" is a noun and "besorge" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Behörde" or "besorge" show up more?
"Behörde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,798 in our German list, against #30,954 for "besorge". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Behörde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "besorge" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,656,124 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Behörde" and "besorge" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "besorge vs besorgter". 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 #1,656,124 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list