Which to use
“besiegten” is an adjective and “bestiegen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,266
- “besiegten” frequency rank
- #30,475
- “bestiegen” frequency rank
- 54741
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | besiegten | bestiegen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs besiegt | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs besteigen |
Where the eye mixes besiegten and bestiegen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. besiegten (CVCVVCCVC) and bestiegen (CVCCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: besiegten vs bestiegen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: besiegten is [bəˈziːktn̩] while bestiegen is [bəˈʃtiːɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54741, 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]. bestiegen is at rank #30,475, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈʃtiːɡn̩].
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 54741, this pair ranks #1,006,922 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of besiegten vs bestiegen
Shared letters: beginst. Private to "besiegten": -. Private to "bestiegen": -.
"besiegten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC · "bestiegen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "besiegten" for "bestiegen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "besiegten" or "bestiegen" show up more?
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 "bestiegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,006,922 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "besiegten" and "bestiegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bestiegen vs Bestien". 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 #1,006,922 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.