BelegvsBesenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,990
“Beleg” frequency rank
#17,533
“Besen” frequency rank
26523
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Beleg Besen
Definition ein Beweis, ein Nachweis Arbeitsgerät zur Reinigung, auf welchem Borsten (aus Tierhaar oder Kunststoff) auf einem Träger, Schaft (aus Holz, Kunststoff oder Metall) aufgebracht und das mit einem Stiel versehen ist; in der einfachsten Form Reisigbündel, Rutenbündel oder Strohbündel mit oder ohne Stiel

Where the eye mixes Beleg and Besen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Beleg
5 ch
Besen

Visual trap between Beleg and Besen

A purely visual mix-up. Beleg ([bəˈleːk]) and Besen ([ˈbeːzn̩]) 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 26523, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Beleg is recorded at frequency rank #8,990, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈleːk]. Besen is at rank #17,533, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbeːzn̩].

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 26523, this pair ranks #1,816,731 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Beleg vs Besen

Shared letters: be. Private to "Beleg": gl. Private to "Besen": ns.

"Beleg" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Besen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Belegbbeleg · beelg · belegg · belge · belleg · bleeg · ebleg
  • Besenbbesen · beesn · besenn · besne · bessen · bseen · ebsen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Beleg" and "Besen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈleːk] versus [ˈbeːzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Beleg" vs "Besen" - which ranks higher?
"Beleg" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,990 in our German list, against #17,533 for "Besen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Beleg" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Besen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,816,731 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Beleg" and "Besen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Besen vs Blusen". 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 #1,816,731 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