BesitzesvsbestesConfusable pair

Quick tell: Besitzes is a noun, bestes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Besitzes” is a noun and “bestes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,470
“Besitzes” frequency rank
#3,299
“bestes” frequency rank
28769
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Besitzes bestes
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Besitz Nominativ Singular Neutrum Superlativ der starken Flexion des Adjektivs gut

Where the eye mixes Besitzes and bestes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Besitzes runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against bestes's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Besitzes
6 ch
bestes

Visual trap between Besitzes and bestes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Besitzes is [bəˈzɪt͡səs] while bestes is [ˈbɛstəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28769, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Besitzes is recorded at frequency rank #25,470, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈzɪt͡səs]. bestes is at rank #3,299, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈbɛstəs].

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 28769, this pair ranks #1,778,964 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Besitzes vs bestes

Shared letters: best. Private to "Besitzes": iz. Private to "bestes": -.

"Besitzes" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "bestes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Besitzesbbesitzes · beistzes · besitezs · besittzes · besitzess · besitzse · besitzzes · besiztes
  • bestesbbestes · besets · besstes · bestess · bestse · besttes · betses · bsetes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Besitzes" for "bestes" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Besitzes" is a noun and "bestes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Besitzes" or "bestes" show up more?
"bestes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,299 in our German list, against #25,470 for "Besitzes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Besitzes" and "bestes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Besitzes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bestes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,778,964 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Besitzes" and "bestes" 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 #1,778,964 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