bestiegvsbestiegenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#36,222
“bestieg” frequency rank
#30,475
“bestiegen” frequency rank
66697
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bestieg bestiegen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs besteigen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs besteigen

Where the eye mixes bestieg and bestiegen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
bestieg
9 ch
bestiegen

Visual trap between bestieg and bestiegen

A purely visual mix-up. bestieg ([bəˈʃtiːk]) and bestiegen ([bəˈʃtiːɡn̩]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “bestieg” sits inside “bestiegen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66697, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bestieg is recorded at frequency rank #36,222, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʃtiːk]. bestiegen is at rank #30,475, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈʃtiːɡn̩].

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 66697, this pair ranks #564,546 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bestieg vs bestiegen

Shared letters: begist. Private to "bestieg": -. Private to "bestiegen": n.

"bestieg" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "bestiegen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bestiegbbestieg · besiteg · besstieg · besteig · bestiegg · bestige · besttieg · betsieg
  • bestiegenbbestiegen · besitegen · besstiegen · bestieegn · bestiegenn · bestieggen · bestiegne · bestigeen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bestieg" and "bestiegen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʃtiːk] versus [bəˈʃtiːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bestieg" vs "bestiegen" - which ranks higher?
"bestiegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,475 in our German list, against #36,222 for "bestieg". 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 "bestieg" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bestiegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #564,546 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bestieg" and "bestiegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bestieg vs Bestien". 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 #564,546 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