beschriebenvsbeschriebeneWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,194
“beschrieben” frequency rank
#14,256
“beschriebene” frequency rank
16450
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beschrieben beschriebene
Definition mit Text versehen, beschriftet worden Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs beschrieben

Where the eye mixes beschrieben and beschriebene

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. beschrieben runs 11 letters (CVCCCCVVCVC) against beschriebene's 12 (CVCCCCVVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
beschrieben
12 ch
beschriebene

Visual trap between beschrieben and beschriebene

A purely visual mix-up. beschrieben ([bəˈʃʁiːbn̩]) and beschriebene ([bəˈʃʁiːbənə]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “beschrieben” sits inside “beschriebene”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16450, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beschrieben is recorded at frequency rank #2,194, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʃʁiːbn̩]. beschriebene is at rank #14,256, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʃʁiːbənə].

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 16450, this pair ranks #1,935,754 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beschrieben vs beschriebene

Shared letters: bcehinrs. Private to "beschrieben": -. Private to "beschriebene": -.

"beschrieben" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCCVVCVC  ·  "beschriebene" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beschriebenbbeschrieben · becshrieben · bescchrieben · beschhrieben · beschireben · beschribeen · beschriebben · beschriebenn
  • beschriebenebbeschriebene · becshriebene · bescchriebene · beschhriebene · beschirebene · beschreibene · beschribeene · beschriebbene

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "beschrieben" and "beschriebene" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʃʁiːbn̩] versus [bəˈʃʁiːbənə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "beschrieben" or "beschriebene" show up more?
"beschrieben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,194 in our German list, against #14,256 for "beschriebene". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "beschrieben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beschriebene" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,935,754 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beschrieben" and "beschriebene" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beschieden vs beschrieben". 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 #1,935,754 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