Which to use
“besorgen” is a verb and “besorgten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,045
- “besorgen” frequency rank
- #20,525
- “besorgten” frequency rank
- 26570
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | besorgen | besorgten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas beschaffen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs besorgt |
Where the eye mixes besorgen and besorgten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. besorgen runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against besorgten's 9 (CVCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses besorgen with besorgten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: besorgen is [bəˈzɔʁɡn̩] while besorgten is [bəˈzɔʁktn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26570, 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]. 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 26570, this pair ranks #1,816,007 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of besorgen vs besorgten
Shared letters: begnors. Private to "besorgen": -. Private to "besorgten": t.
"besorgen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "besorgten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "besorgen" and "besorgten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "besorgen" or "besorgten" show up more?
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 "besorgten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,816,007 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "besorgen" 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 #1,816,007 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.