BesenvsblasenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Besen is a noun, blasen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Besen” is a noun and “blasen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,533
“Besen” frequency rank
#5,810
“blasen” frequency rank
23343
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Besen blasen
Definition Arbeitsgerät zur Reinigung, auf welchem Borsten (aus Tierhaar oder Kunststoff) auf einem Träger, Schaft (aus Holz, Kunststoff oder Metall) aufgebracht und das mit einem Stiel versehen ist; in der einfachsten Form Reisigbündel, Rutenbündel oder Strohbündel mit oder ohne Stiel Luft aus dem Mund ausstoßen; etwas in die Luft beziehungsweise Atmosphäre überleiten; in etwas hineinpusten

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Besen and blasen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Besen
6 ch
blasen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Besen is [ˈbeːzn̩] while blasen is [ˈblaːzn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23343, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Besen is recorded at frequency rank #17,533, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbeːzn̩]. blasen is at rank #5,810, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈblaːzn̩].

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 23343, this pair ranks #1,862,503 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Besen vs blasen

Shared letters: bens. Private to "Besen": -. Private to "blasen": al.

"Besen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "blasen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Besenbbesen · beesn · besenn · besne · bessen · bseen · ebsen
  • blasenbalsen · bblasen · blaesn · blasenn · blasne · bllasen · blsaen · lbasen

Frequency comparison

Besen#17,533
blasen#5,810

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Besen" and "blasen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Besen" is a noun and "blasen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Besen" or "blasen"?
"blasen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,810 in our German list, against #17,533 for "Besen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Besen vs blasen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Besen”; for a verb, it's “blasen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Besen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list