Which to use
“besetzt” and “besetzte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,876
- “besetzt” frequency rank
- #13,560
- “besetzte” frequency rank
- 16436
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | besetzt | besetzte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | durch Streitkräfte/eine Armee eingenommen und nicht bereit, das eingenommene Dorf/Land/Gebiet zurückzugeben entsprechend völkerrechtlich (= von der UNO) anerkannter Grenzen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs besetzt |
Where the eye mixes besetzt and besetzte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. besetzt runs 7 letters (CVCVCCC) against besetzte's 8 (CVCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: besetzt vs besetzte
A purely visual mix-up. besetzt ([bəˈzɛt͡st]) and besetzte ([bəˈzɛt͡stə]) 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) - “besetzt” sits inside “besetzte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16436, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
besetzt is recorded at frequency rank #2,876, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈzɛt͡st]. besetzte is at rank #13,560, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈzɛt͡stə].
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 16436, this pair ranks #1,935,881 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of besetzt vs besetzte
Shared letters: bestz. Private to "besetzt": -. Private to "besetzte": -.
"besetzt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC · "besetzte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "besetzt" and "besetzte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "besetzt" or "besetzte" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "besetzt" and "besetzte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "besetzt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "besetzte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,935,881 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "besetzt" and "besetzte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "besetzte vs besetztes". 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 #1,935,881 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.