besetztevsbesetztesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,560
“besetzte” frequency rank
#47,998
“besetztes” frequency rank
61558
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature besetzte besetztes
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs besetzt Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs besetzt

Where the eye mixes besetzte and besetztes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. besetzte runs 8 letters (CVCVCCCV) against besetztes's 9 (CVCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
besetzte
9 ch
besetztes

Why the eye confuses besetzte with besetztes

A purely visual mix-up. besetzte ([bəˈzɛt͡stə]) and besetztes ([bəˈzɛt͡stəs]) 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) - “besetzte” sits inside “besetztes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61558, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

besetzte is recorded at frequency rank #13,560, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈzɛt͡stə]. besetztes is at rank #47,998, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈzɛt͡stəs].

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 61558, this pair ranks #745,289 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of besetzte vs besetztes

Shared letters: bestz. Private to "besetzte": -. Private to "besetztes": -.

"besetzte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV  ·  "besetztes" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • besetztebbesetzte · beestzte · besettze · besettzte · besetzet · besetztte · besetzzte · beseztte
  • besetztesbbesetztes · beestztes · besettzes · besettztes · besetzets · besetztess · besetztse · besetzttes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "besetzte" and "besetztes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈzɛt͡stə] versus [bəˈzɛt͡stəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "besetzte" vs "besetztes" - which ranks higher?
"besetzte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,560 in our German list, against #47,998 for "besetztes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "besetzte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "besetztes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #745,289 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "besetzte" and "besetztes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "besetztes vs Besitzes". 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 #745,289 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