besiegtenvsbesorgtenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#24,266
“besiegten” frequency rank
#20,525
“besorgten” frequency rank
44791
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature besiegten besorgten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs besiegt Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs besorgt

Where the eye mixes besiegten and besorgten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. besiegten (CVCVVCCVC) and besorgten (CVCVCCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
besiegten
9 ch
besorgten

Look-alike desk: besiegten vs besorgten

A purely visual mix-up. besiegten ([bəˈziːktn̩]) and besorgten ([bəˈzɔʁktn̩]) 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 44791, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

besiegten is recorded at frequency rank #24,266, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈziːktn̩]. besorgten is at rank #20,525, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈzɔʁktn̩].

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 44791, this pair ranks #1,374,577 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of besiegten vs besorgten

Shared letters: begnst. Private to "besiegten": i. Private to "besorgten": or.

"besiegten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC  ·  "besorgten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • besiegtenbbesiegten · beisegten · beseigten · besiegetn · besieggten · besiegtenn · besiegtne · besiegtten
  • besorgtenbbesorgten · beosrgten · besogrten · besorgetn · besorggten · besorgtenn · besorgtne · besorgtten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "besiegten" and "besorgten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈziːktn̩] versus [bəˈzɔʁktn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "besiegten" or "besorgten" show up more?
"besorgten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,525 in our German list, against #24,266 for "besiegten". 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 "besiegten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "besorgten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,374,577 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "besiegten" and "besorgten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "besorgten vs besorgter". 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 #1,374,577 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