Which to use
“bestellen” is a verb and “bestellte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,026
- “bestellen” frequency rank
- #13,561
- “bestellte” frequency rank
- 16587
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bestellen | bestellte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Ware oder Dienstleistung zur Lieferung in Auftrag geben | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs bestellt |
Where the eye mixes bestellen and bestellte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. bestellen (CVCCVCCVC) and bestellte (CVCCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between bestellen and bestellte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bestellen is [bəˈʃtɛlən] while bestellte is [bəˈʃtɛltə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16587, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bestellen is recorded at frequency rank #3,026, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʃtɛlən]. bestellte is at rank #13,561, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʃtɛltə].
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 16587, this pair ranks #1,934,602 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bestellen vs bestellte
Shared letters: belst. Private to "bestellen": n. Private to "bestellte": -.
"bestellen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "bestellte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bestellen" and "bestellte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "bestellen" or "bestellte" show up more?
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 "bestellen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bestellte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,934,602 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bestellen" and "bestellte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bestellst vs bestellte". 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 #1,934,602 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.