Which to use
“bestand” is a verb and “beständig” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,958
- “bestand” frequency rank
- #15,046
- “beständig” frequency rank
- 17004
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bestand | beständig |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum des Verbs bestehen | anhaltend, gleichbleibend |
Where the eye mixes bestand and beständig
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. bestand runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against beständig's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses bestand with beständig
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bestand is [bəˈʃtant] while beständig is [bəˈʃtɛndɪç]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17004, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bestand is recorded at frequency rank #1,958, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʃtant]. beständig is at rank #15,046, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʃtɛndɪç].
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 17004, this pair ranks #1,931,187 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bestand vs beständig
Shared letters: bdenst. Private to "bestand": a. Private to "beständig": giä.
"bestand" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "beständig" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bestand ← bbestand · besatnd · besstand · bestadn · bestandd · bestannd · bestnad · besttand
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bestand" for "beständig" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "bestand" or "beständig" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "bestand" and "beständig" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bestand" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "beständig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,931,187 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bestand" and "beständig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bestandes vs beständig". 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 #1,931,187 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.