Which to use
“bestehende” and “bestehenden” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,874
- “bestehende” frequency rank
- #3,174
- “bestehenden” frequency rank
- 7048
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bestehende | bestehenden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs bestehend | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs bestehend |
Where the eye mixes bestehende and bestehenden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses bestehende with bestehenden
A purely visual mix-up. bestehende ([bəˈʃteːəndə]) and bestehenden ([bəˈʃteːəndn̩]) 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) - “bestehende” sits inside “bestehenden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7048, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bestehende is recorded at frequency rank #3,874, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʃteːəndə]. bestehenden is at rank #3,174, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʃteːəndn̩].
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 7048, this pair ranks #1,989,564 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bestehende vs bestehenden
Shared letters: bdehnst. Private to "bestehende": -. Private to "bestehenden": -.
"bestehende" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV · "bestehenden" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bestehende ← bbestehende · besethende · besstehende · besteehnde · bestehedne · bestehendde · bestehened · bestehennde
- bestehenden ← bbestehenden · besethenden · besstehenden · besteehnden · bestehednen · bestehendden · bestehendenn · bestehendne
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bestehende" for "bestehenden" ever safe?
Which is more common, "bestehende" or "bestehenden"?
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 "bestehende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bestehenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,989,564 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bestehende" and "bestehenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bestehende vs bestehendes". 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 #1,989,564 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.