bekommevsbekommenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,233
“bekomme” frequency rank
#336
“bekommen” frequency rank
2569
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bekomme bekommen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bekommen etwas empfangen, etwas erhalten, etwas erlangen; in seinen Besitz übernehmen

Where the eye mixes bekomme and bekommen

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

7 ch
bekomme
8 ch
bekommen

Visual trap between bekomme and bekommen

A purely visual mix-up. bekomme ([bəˈkɔmə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “bekomme” sits inside “bekommen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2569, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bekomme is recorded at frequency rank #2,233, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈkɔmə]. 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 2569, this pair ranks #2,002,052 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bekomme vs bekommen

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

"bekomme" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "bekommen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bekomme ← bbekomme · bekkomme · bekmome · bekome · bekomem · beokmme · bkeomme · ebkomme
  • bekommen ← bbekommen · bekkommen · bekmomen · bekomemn · bekomen · bekommenn · bekommne · beokmmen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bekomme" for "bekommen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈkɔmə] versus [bəˈkɔmən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bekomme" vs "bekommen" - which ranks higher?
"bekommen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #336 in our German list, against #2,233 for "bekomme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bekomme" 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 #2,002,052 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bekomme" and "bekommen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "become vs bekomme". 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 #2,002,052 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