besorgenvsbesorgteConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#6,045
“besorgen” frequency rank
#12,036
“besorgte” frequency rank
18081
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature besorgen besorgte
Definition etwas beschaffen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs besorgt

Where the eye mixes besorgen and besorgte

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

8 ch
besorgen
8 ch
besorgte

Look-alike desk: besorgen vs besorgte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: besorgen is [bəˈzɔʁɡn̩] while besorgte is [bəˈzɔʁktə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18081, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

besorgen is recorded at frequency rank #6,045, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈzɔʁɡn̩]. 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 18081, this pair ranks #1,921,584 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of besorgen vs besorgte

Shared letters: begors. Private to "besorgen": n. Private to "besorgte": t.

"besorgen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "besorgte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • besorgenbbesorgen · beosrgen · besogren · besoregn · besorgenn · besorggen · besorgne · besorrgen
  • besorgtebbesorgte · beosrgte · besogrte · besorget · besorggte · besorgtte · besorrgte · besortge

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "besorgen" and "besorgte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "besorgen" is a verb and "besorgte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "besorgen" vs "besorgte" - which ranks higher?
"besorgen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,045 in our German list, against #12,036 for "besorgte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "besorgen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "besorgte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,921,584 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "besorgen" and "besorgte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "besorgte 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 #1,921,584 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