bestätigevsbestätigenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“bestätige” and “bestätigen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#30,955
“bestätige” frequency rank
#2,877
“bestätigen” frequency rank
33832
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bestätige bestätigen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bestätigen den Wahrheitsgehalt einer Aussage oder eines Sachverhalts bejahen oder zumindest erhärten

Where the eye mixes bestätige and bestätigen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. bestätige runs 9 letters (CVCCVCVCV) against bestätigen's 10 (CVCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
bestätige
10 ch
bestätigen

Why the eye confuses bestätige with bestätigen

A purely visual mix-up. bestätige ([bəˈʃtɛːtɪɡə]) and bestätigen ([bəˈʃtɛːtɪɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “bestätige” sits inside “bestätigen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33832, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bestätige is recorded at frequency rank #30,955, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʃtɛːtɪɡə]. bestätigen is at rank #2,877, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈʃtɛːtɪɡn̩].

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 33832, this pair ranks #1,677,088 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bestätige vs bestätigen

Shared letters: begistä. Private to "bestätige": -. Private to "bestätigen": n.

"bestätige" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV  ·  "bestätigen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bestätige" and "bestätigen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʃtɛːtɪɡə] versus [bəˈʃtɛːtɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bestätige" vs "bestätigen" - which ranks higher?
"bestätigen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,877 in our German list, against #30,955 for "bestätige". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "bestätige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bestätigen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,677,088 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bestätige" and "bestätigen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beständige vs bestätige". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,677,088 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