bemaltvsbesagtTell them apart

Which to use

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

#21,189
“bemalt” frequency rank
#8,686
“besagt” frequency rank
29875
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bemalt besagt
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs bemalen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs besagen

Where the eye mixes bemalt and besagt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. bemalt and besagt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
bemalt
6 ch
besagt

Look-alike desk: bemalt vs besagt

A purely visual mix-up. bemalt ([bəˈmaːlt]) and besagt ([bəˈzaːkt]) 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 29875, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bemalt is recorded at frequency rank #21,189, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈmaːlt]. besagt is at rank #8,686, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈzaːkt].

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 29875, this pair ranks #1,758,587 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bemalt vs besagt

Shared letters: abet. Private to "bemalt": lm. Private to "besagt": gs.

"bemalt" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "besagt" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bemalt ← bbemalt · beamlt · bemallt · bemaltt · bematl · bemlat · bemmalt · bmealt
  • besagt ← bbesagt · beasgt · besaggt · besagtt · besatg · besgat · bessagt · bseagt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bemalt" for "besagt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈmaːlt] versus [bəˈzaːkt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bemalt" or "besagt"?
"besagt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,686 in our German list, against #21,189 for "bemalt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "bemalt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "besagt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,758,587 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bemalt" and "besagt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bellt vs bemalt". 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 #1,758,587 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