beschreibevsbeschreibtConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#31,960
“beschreibe” frequency rank
#2,583
“beschreibt” frequency rank
34543
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beschreibe beschreibt
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs beschreiben 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs beschreiben

Where the eye mixes beschreibe and beschreibt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. beschreibe (CVCCCCVVCV) and beschreibt (CVCCCCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
beschreibe
10 ch
beschreibt

Why the eye confuses beschreibe with beschreibt

A purely visual mix-up. beschreibe ([bəˈʃʁaɪ̯bə]) and beschreibt ([bəˈʃʁaɪ̯pt]) 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 - e in “beschreibe” becomes t in “beschreibt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34543, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beschreibe is recorded at frequency rank #31,960, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʃʁaɪ̯bə]. beschreibt is at rank #2,583, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈʃʁaɪ̯pt].

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 34543, this pair ranks #1,660,912 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beschreibe vs beschreibt

Shared letters: bcehirs. Private to "beschreibe": -. Private to "beschreibt": t.

"beschreibe" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCCVVCV  ·  "beschreibt" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beschreibebbeschreibe · becshreibe · bescchreibe · bescheribe · beschhreibe · beschrebie · beschreibbe · beschreieb
  • beschreibtbbeschreibt · becshreibt · bescchreibt · bescheribt · beschhreibt · beschrebit · beschreibbt · beschreibtt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "beschreibe" and "beschreibt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʃʁaɪ̯bə] versus [bəˈʃʁaɪ̯pt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "beschreibe" or "beschreibt" show up more?
"beschreibt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,583 in our German list, against #31,960 for "beschreibe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "beschreibe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beschreibt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,660,912 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beschreibe" and "beschreibt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beschreibe vs beschreiten". 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 #1,660,912 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