bekommtvsbenimmtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#681
“bekommt” frequency rank
#22,650
“benimmt” frequency rank
23331
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bekommt benimmt
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bekommen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs benehmen

Where the eye mixes bekommt and benimmt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. bekommt and benimmt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
bekommt
7 ch
benimmt

Visual trap between bekommt and benimmt

A purely visual mix-up. bekommt ([bəˈkɔmt]) and benimmt ([bəˈnɪmt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23331, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bekommt is recorded at frequency rank #681, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈkɔmt]. benimmt is at rank #22,650, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈnɪmt].

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 23331, this pair ranks #1,862,658 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bekommt vs benimmt

Shared letters: bemt. Private to "bekommt": ko. Private to "benimmt": in.

"bekommt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC  ·  "benimmt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bekommt ← bbekommt · bekkommt · bekmomt · bekommtt · bekomt · bekomtm · beokmmt · bkeommt
  • benimmt ← bbenimmt · beinmmt · benimmtt · benimt · benimtm · benmimt · bennimmt · bneimmt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bekommt" for "benimmt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈkɔmt] versus [bəˈnɪmt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "bekommt" or "benimmt" show up more?
"bekommt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #681 in our German list, against #22,650 for "benimmt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bekommt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "benimmt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,862,658 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bekommt" and "benimmt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "benimmt vs bestimmt". 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 #1,862,658 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