beisteuernvsbesteuernWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,954
“beisteuern” frequency rank
#48,772
“besteuern” frequency rank
80726
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beisteuern besteuern
Definition zu etwas beitragen, einen Beitrag zu etwas leisten, beispielsweise finanzieller oder künstlerischer Art auf eine Ware/Leistung staatliche Abgaben (Steuern) erheben; für etwas von jemandem Steuern verlangen/eintreiben

Where the spellings diverge

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

10 ch
beisteuern
9 ch
besteuern

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. beisteuern ([ˈbaɪ̯ˌʃtɔɪ̯ɐn]) and besteuern ([bəˈʃtɔɪ̯ɐn]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80726, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beisteuern is recorded at frequency rank #31,954, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbaɪ̯ˌʃtɔɪ̯ɐn]. besteuern is at rank #48,772, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈʃtɔɪ̯ɐn].

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 80726, this pair ranks #189,732 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of beisteuern vs besteuern

Shared letters: benrstu. Private to "beisteuern": i. Private to "besteuern": -.

"beisteuern" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVVVCC  ·  "besteuern" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beisteuernbbeisteuern · beisetuern · beissteuern · beisteeurn · beisteuenr · beisteuernn · beisteuerrn · beisteuren
  • besteuernbbesteuern · besetuern · bessteuern · besteeurn · besteuenr · besteuernn · besteuerrn · besteuren

Frequency comparison

beisteuern#31,954
besteuern#48,772

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "beisteuern" and "besteuern" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbaɪ̯ˌʃtɔɪ̯ɐn] versus [bəˈʃtɔɪ̯ɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "beisteuern" or "besteuern"?
"beisteuern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,954 in our German list, against #48,772 for "besteuern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering beisteuern vs besteuern

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 “beisteuern” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list