Which to use
“bekannt” is an adjective and “bekennt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #463
- “bekannt” frequency rank
- #14,248
- “bekennt” frequency rank
- 14711
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bekannt | bekennt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | von vielen gekannt, im Allgemeinwissen vorhanden | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bekennen |
Where the eye mixes bekannt and bekennt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. bekannt and bekennt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between bekannt and bekennt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bekannt is [bəˈkant] while bekennt is [bəˈkɛnt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “bekannt” becomes e in “bekennt”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14711, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bekannt is recorded at frequency rank #463, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈkant]. bekennt is at rank #14,248, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈkɛnt].
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 14711, this pair ranks #1,949,284 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bekannt vs bekennt
Shared letters: beknt. Private to "bekannt": a. Private to "bekennt": -.
"bekannt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC · "bekennt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bekannt" for "bekennt" ever safe?
Which is more common, "bekannt" or "bekennt"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bekannt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bekennt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,949,284 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bekannt" and "bekennt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bekenne vs bekennt". 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 #1,949,284 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.