BerechtigungvsBesichtigungTell them apart

Which to use

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

#14,020
“Berechtigung” frequency rank
#12,467
“Besichtigung” frequency rank
26487
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Berechtigung Besichtigung
Definition Befugnis etwas zu tun Ereignis, bei dem jemand etwas genau betrachtet, wobei das Betrachtete meist zur Betrachtung freigegeben wurde oder frei zugänglich ist

Where the eye mixes Berechtigung and Besichtigung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. Berechtigung and Besichtigung follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCCVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

12 ch
Berechtigung
12 ch
Besichtigung

Look-alike desk: Berechtigung vs Besichtigung

A purely visual mix-up. Berechtigung ([bəˈʁɛçtɪɡʊŋ]) and Besichtigung ([bəˈzɪçtɪɡʊŋ]) 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 26487, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Berechtigung is recorded at frequency rank #14,020, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈʁɛçtɪɡʊŋ]. Besichtigung is at rank #12,467, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈzɪçtɪɡʊŋ].

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 26487, this pair ranks #1,817,280 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Berechtigung vs Besichtigung

Shared letters: bceghintu. Private to "Berechtigung": r. Private to "Besichtigung": s.

"Berechtigung" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCVCC  ·  "Besichtigung" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Berechtigungbberechtigung · beerchtigung · bercehtigung · berecchtigung · berechhtigung · berechitgung · berechtgiung · berechtiggung
  • Besichtigungbbesichtigung · beischtigung · bescihtigung · besicchtigung · besichhtigung · besichitgung · besichtgiung · besichtiggung

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Berechtigung" and "Besichtigung" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʁɛçtɪɡʊŋ] versus [bəˈzɪçtɪɡʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Berechtigung" or "Besichtigung" show up more?
"Besichtigung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,467 in our German list, against #14,020 for "Berechtigung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Berechtigung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Besichtigung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,817,280 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Berechtigung" and "Besichtigung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "berechtigen vs Berechtigung". 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 #1,817,280 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