bekamenvsbeklagenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,806
“bekamen” frequency rank
#10,428
“beklagen” frequency rank
16234
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bekamen beklagen
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs bekommen seinen Unmut über etwas äußern

Where the eye mixes bekamen and beklagen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. bekamen runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against beklagen's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
bekamen
8 ch
beklagen

Look-alike desk: bekamen vs beklagen

A purely visual mix-up. bekamen ([bəˈkaːmən]) and beklagen ([bəˈklaːɡn̩]) 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 16234, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bekamen is recorded at frequency rank #5,806, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈkaːmən]. beklagen is at rank #10,428, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈklaːɡn̩].

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 16234, this pair ranks #1,937,493 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bekamen vs beklagen

Shared letters: abekn. Private to "bekamen": m. Private to "beklagen": gl.

"bekamen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "beklagen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bekamen ← bbekamen · beakmen · bekaemn · bekamenn · bekammen · bekamne · bekkamen · bekmaen
  • beklagen ← bbeklagen · bekalgen · bekklagen · beklaegn · beklagenn · beklaggen · beklagne · beklgaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bekamen" for "beklagen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈkaːmən] versus [bəˈklaːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "bekamen" or "beklagen" show up more?
"bekamen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,806 in our German list, against #10,428 for "beklagen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "bekamen" and "beklagen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bekamen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beklagen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,937,493 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bekamen" and "beklagen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beilegen vs beklagen". 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 #1,937,493 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