bekommvsbekommenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#15,041
“bekomm” frequency rank
#336
“bekommen” frequency rank
15377
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bekomm bekommen
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bekommen etwas empfangen, etwas erhalten, etwas erlangen; in seinen Besitz übernehmen

Where the eye mixes bekomm and bekommen

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

6 ch
bekomm
8 ch
bekommen

Visual trap between bekomm and bekommen

A purely visual mix-up. bekomm ([bəˈkɔm]) and bekommen ([bəˈkɔmən]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “bekomm” sits inside “bekommen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bekomm is recorded at frequency rank #15,041, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈkɔm]. bekommen is at rank #336, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈkɔmən].

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 15377, this pair ranks #1,944,347 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bekomm vs bekommen

Shared letters: bekmo. Private to "bekomm": -. Private to "bekommen": n.

"bekomm" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "bekommen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bekomm ← bbekomm · bekkomm · bekmom · bekom · beokmm · bkeomm · ebkomm
  • bekommen ← bbekommen · bekkommen · bekmomen · bekomemn · bekomen · bekommenn · bekommne · beokmmen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bekomm" for "bekommen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈkɔm] versus [bəˈkɔmən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bekomm" vs "bekommen" - which ranks higher?
"bekommen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #336 in our German list, against #15,041 for "bekomm". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "bekomm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bekommen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,944,347 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bekomm" and "bekommen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "become vs bekomm". 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 #1,944,347 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