besorgvsbesorgteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: besorg is a verb, besorgte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“besorg” is a verb and “besorgte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,103
“besorg” frequency rank
#12,036
“besorgte” frequency rank
47139
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature besorg besorgte
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs besorgen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs besorgt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set besorg and besorgte apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
besorg
8 ch
besorgte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: besorg is [bəˈzɔʁk] while besorgte is [bəˈzɔʁktə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “besorg” sits inside “besorgte”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47139, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

besorg is recorded at frequency rank #35,103, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈzɔʁk]. besorgte is at rank #12,036, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈzɔʁktə].

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 47139, this pair ranks #1,294,831 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of besorg vs besorgte

Shared letters: begors. Private to "besorg": -. Private to "besorgte": t.

"besorg" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "besorgte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • besorgbbesorg · beosrg · besogr · besorgg · besorrg · besrog · bessorg · bseorg
  • besorgtebbesorgte · beosrgte · besogrte · besorget · besorggte · besorgtte · besorrgte · besortge

Frequency comparison

besorg#35,103
besorgte#12,036

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "besorg" and "besorgte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "besorg" is a verb and "besorgte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "besorg" or "besorgte"?
"besorgte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,036 in our German list, against #35,103 for "besorg". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering besorg vs besorgte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “besorg”; for an adjective, it's “besorgte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “besorg” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list