bestätigevsbestätigteConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#30,955
“bestätige” frequency rank
#6,048
“bestätigte” frequency rank
37003
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bestätige bestätigte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bestätigen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs bestätigt

Where the eye mixes bestätige and bestätigte

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

9 ch
bestätige
10 ch
bestätigte

Look-alike desk: bestätige vs bestätigte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bestätige is [bəˈʃtɛːtɪɡə] while bestätigte is [bəˈʃtɛːtɪçtə]. 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 37003, 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]. bestätigte is at rank #6,048, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʃtɛːtɪçtə].

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 37003, this pair ranks #1,601,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bestätige vs bestätigte

Shared letters: begistä. Private to "bestätige": -. Private to "bestätigte": -.

"bestätige" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV  ·  "bestätigte" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bestätige" and "bestätigte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bestätige" is a verb and "bestätigte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "bestätige" or "bestätigte" show up more?
"bestätigte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,048 in our German list, against #30,955 for "bestätige". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bestätige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bestätigte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,601,260 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bestätige" and "bestätigte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beständige vs bestätige". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,601,260 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