Which to use
“Besatzung” and “Besetzung” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,179
- “Besatzung” frequency rank
- #4,773
- “Besetzung” frequency rank
- 12952
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Besatzung | Besetzung |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | die Gesamtheit aller Seeleute auf einem Boot, Schiff, Luftschiff, Raumschiff oder Flugboot bzw. diejenigen Angestellten einer Fluggesellschaft, die sich im fliegenden Flugzeug befinden | die Stationierung von Truppen in einem (fremden) Gebiet unter Behauptung der Herrschaft |
Where the eye mixes Besatzung and Besetzung
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Besatzung and Besetzung follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Besatzung with Besetzung
A purely visual mix-up. Besatzung ([bəˈzat͡sʊŋ]) and Besetzung ([bəˈzɛt͡sʊŋ]) 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 - a in “Besatzung” becomes e in “Besetzung”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12952, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Besatzung is recorded at frequency rank #8,179, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈzat͡sʊŋ]. Besetzung is at rank #4,773, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈzɛt͡sʊŋ].
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 12952, this pair ranks #1,961,016 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Besatzung vs Besetzung
Shared letters: begnstuz. Private to "Besatzung": a. Private to "Besetzung": -.
"Besatzung" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC · "Besetzung" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Besatzung" and "Besetzung" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Besatzung" or "Besetzung" show up more?
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 "Besatzung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Besetzung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,961,016 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Besatzung" and "Besetzung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Besatzung vs Besatzungen". 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 #1,961,016 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.