bekamvsbekämeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,690
“bekam” frequency rank
#20,522
“bekäme” frequency rank
22212
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bekam bekäme
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs bekommen 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs bekommen

Where the eye mixes bekam and bekäme

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. bekam runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against bekäme's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
bekam
6 ch
bekäme

Look-alike desk: bekam vs bekäme

A purely visual mix-up. bekam ([bəˈkaːm]) and bekäme ([bəˈkɛːmə]) 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 22212, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bekam is recorded at frequency rank #1,690, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈkaːm]. bekäme is at rank #20,522, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈkɛːmə].

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 22212, this pair ranks #1,876,930 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bekam vs bekäme

Shared letters: bekm. Private to "bekam": a. Private to "bekäme": ä.

"bekam" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "bekäme" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bekam ← bbekam · beakm · bekamm · bekkam · bekma · bkeam · ebkam

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bekam" and "bekäme" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈkaːm] versus [bəˈkɛːmə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "bekam" or "bekäme" show up more?
"bekam" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,690 in our German list, against #20,522 for "bekäme". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "bekam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bekäme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,876,930 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bekam" and "bekäme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bekäme vs bekämpfe". 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 #1,876,930 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