Which to use
“besagten” is an adjective and “besaufen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,530
- “besagten” frequency rank
- #45,169
- “besaufen” frequency rank
- 62699
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | besagten | besaufen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs besagt | Alkohol zu sich nehmen |
Where the eye mixes besagten and besaufen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. besagten (CVCVCCVC) and besaufen (CVCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses besagten with besaufen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: besagten is [bəˈzaːktn̩] while besaufen is [bəˈzaʊ̯fn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62699, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
besagten is recorded at frequency rank #17,530, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈzaːktn̩]. besaufen is at rank #45,169, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈzaʊ̯fn̩].
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 62699, this pair ranks #703,318 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of besagten vs besaufen
Shared letters: abens. Private to "besagten": gt. Private to "besaufen": fu.
"besagten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "besaufen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "besagten" for "besaufen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "besagten" vs "besaufen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "besagten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "besaufen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #703,318 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "besagten" and "besaufen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "besaufen vs betäuben". 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 #703,318 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.