BesichtigungvsBesichtigungenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,467
“Besichtigung” frequency rank
#39,839
“Besichtigungen” frequency rank
52306
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Besichtigung Besichtigungen
Definition Ereignis, bei dem jemand etwas genau betrachtet, wobei das Betrachtete meist zur Betrachtung freigegeben wurde oder frei zugänglich ist Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Besichtigung

Where the eye mixes Besichtigung and Besichtigungen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. Besichtigung runs 12 letters (CVCVCCCVCVCC) against Besichtigungen's 14 (CVCVCCCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

12 ch
Besichtigung
14 ch
Besichtigungen

Visual trap between Besichtigung and Besichtigungen

A purely visual mix-up. Besichtigung ([bəˈzɪçtɪɡʊŋ]) and Besichtigungen ([bəˈzɪçtɪɡʊŋən]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “Besichtigung” sits inside “Besichtigungen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Besichtigung is recorded at frequency rank #12,467, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈzɪçtɪɡʊŋ]. Besichtigungen is at rank #39,839, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈzɪçtɪɡʊŋən].

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 52306, this pair ranks #1,101,918 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Besichtigung vs Besichtigungen

Shared letters: bceghinstu. Private to "Besichtigung": -. Private to "Besichtigungen": -.

"Besichtigung" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCVCC  ·  "Besichtigungen" · 14 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Besichtigungbbesichtigung · beischtigung · bescihtigung · besicchtigung · besichhtigung · besichitgung · besichtgiung · besichtiggung
  • Besichtigungenbbesichtigungen · beischtigungen · bescihtigungen · besicchtigungen · besichhtigungen · besichitgungen · besichtgiungen · besichtiggungen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Besichtigung" for "Besichtigungen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈzɪçtɪɡʊŋ] versus [bəˈzɪçtɪɡʊŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Besichtigung" or "Besichtigungen"?
"Besichtigung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,467 in our German list, against #39,839 for "Besichtigungen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Besichtigung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Besichtigungen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,101,918 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Besichtigung" and "Besichtigungen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Berechtigungen vs Besichtigungen". 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 #1,101,918 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