BerichtigungvsBesichtigungWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,468
“Berichtigung” frequency rank
#12,467
“Besichtigung” frequency rank
37935
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Berichtigung Besichtigung
Definition die Handlung des Berichtigens; das Entfernen oder Ansprechen von gemachten Fehlern Ereignis, bei dem jemand etwas genau betrachtet, wobei das Betrachtete meist zur Betrachtung freigegeben wurde oder frei zugänglich ist

Where the eye mixes Berichtigung and Besichtigung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. Berichtigung 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
Berichtigung
12 ch
Besichtigung

Why the eye confuses Berichtigung with Besichtigung

A purely visual mix-up. Berichtigung ([bəˈʁɪçtɪɡʊŋ]) 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 differ by a single letter - r in “Berichtigung” becomes s in “Besichtigung”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37935, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Berichtigung is recorded at frequency rank #25,468, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈʁɪçtɪɡʊŋ]. 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 37935, this pair ranks #1,577,247 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Berichtigung vs Besichtigung

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

"Berichtigung" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCVCC  ·  "Besichtigung" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Berichtigungbberichtigung · beirchtigung · bercihtigung · bericchtigung · berichhtigung · berichitgung · berichtgiung · berichtiggung
  • Besichtigungbbesichtigung · beischtigung · bescihtigung · besicchtigung · besichhtigung · besichitgung · besichtgiung · besichtiggung

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Berichtigung" for "Besichtigung" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʁɪçtɪɡʊŋ] versus [bəˈzɪçtɪɡʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Berichtigung" vs "Besichtigung" - which ranks higher?
"Besichtigung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,467 in our German list, against #25,468 for "Berichtigung". 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 "Berichtigung" 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 #1,577,247 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Berichtigung" and "Besichtigung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "berichtigen vs Berichtigung". 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 #1,577,247 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