Which to use
“besessen” and “beweisen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,190
- “besessen” frequency rank
- #2,431
- “beweisen” frequency rank
- 13621
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | besessen | beweisen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs besitzen | eine Vermutung oder Theorie mit Fakten begründen |
Where the eye mixes besessen and beweisen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. besessen (CVCVCCVC) and beweisen (CVCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: besessen vs beweisen
A purely visual mix-up. besessen ([bəˈzɛsn̩]) and beweisen ([bəˈvaɪ̯zn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13621, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
besessen is recorded at frequency rank #11,190, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈzɛsn̩]. beweisen is at rank #2,431, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈvaɪ̯zn̩].
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 13621, this pair ranks #1,956,809 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of besessen vs beweisen
Shared letters: bens. Private to "besessen": -. Private to "beweisen": iw.
"besessen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "beweisen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "besessen" and "beweisen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "besessen" or "beweisen" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "besessen" and "beweisen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "besessen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "beweisen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,956,809 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "besessen" and "beweisen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bereisen vs besessen". 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 #1,956,809 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.