Which to use
“bestanden” and “beständig” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,103
- “bestanden” frequency rank
- #15,046
- “beständig” frequency rank
- 19149
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bestanden | beständig |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pflanzen als Bewuchs aufweisend | anhaltend, gleichbleibend |
Where the eye mixes bestanden and beständig
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. bestanden and beständig follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses bestanden with beständig
A purely visual mix-up. bestanden ([bəˈʃtandn̩]) and beständig ([bəˈʃtɛndɪç]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19149, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bestanden is recorded at frequency rank #4,103, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʃtandn̩]. 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 19149, this pair ranks #1,911,350 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bestanden vs beständig
Shared letters: bdenst. Private to "bestanden": a. Private to "beständig": giä.
"bestanden" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "beständig" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bestanden ← bbestanden · besatnden · besstanden · bestadnen · bestandden · bestandenn · bestandne · bestanedn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bestanden" for "beständig" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "bestanden" or "beständig" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "bestanden" and "beständig" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bestanden" 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 #1,911,350 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bestanden" 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 #1,911,350 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.