Which to use
“belegen” and “besagen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,101
- “belegen” frequency rank
- #29,960
- “besagen” frequency rank
- 34061
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | belegen | besagen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | den Beweis für etwas erbringen | bedeuten, zum Ausdruck bringen, beinhalten |
Where the eye mixes belegen and besagen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. belegen and besagen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between belegen and besagen
A purely visual mix-up. belegen ([bəˈleːɡn̩]) and besagen ([bəˈzaːɡn̩]) 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 34061, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
belegen is recorded at frequency rank #4,101, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈleːɡn̩]. besagen is at rank #29,960, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈzaːɡn̩].
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 34061, this pair ranks #1,671,871 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of belegen vs besagen
Shared letters: begn. Private to "belegen": l. Private to "besagen": as.
"belegen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "besagen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "belegen" and "besagen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "belegen" vs "besagen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "belegen" and "besagen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "belegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "besagen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,671,871 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "belegen" and "besagen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "besagen vs besagtem". 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 #1,671,871 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.