bestiegenvsBestienTell them apart

Quick tell: bestiegen is a verb, Bestien is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bestiegen” is a verb and “Bestien” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,475
“bestiegen” frequency rank
#48,773
“Bestien” frequency rank
79248
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bestiegen Bestien
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs besteigen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Bestie

Where the eye mixes bestiegen and Bestien

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. bestiegen runs 9 letters (CVCCVVCVC) against Bestien's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
bestiegen
7 ch
Bestien

Look-alike desk: bestiegen vs Bestien

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bestiegen is [bəˈʃtiːɡn̩] while Bestien is [ˈbɛsti̯ən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79248, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bestiegen is recorded at frequency rank #30,475, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʃtiːɡn̩]. Bestien is at rank #48,773, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbɛsti̯ən].

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 79248, this pair ranks #220,566 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bestiegen vs Bestien

Shared letters: beinst. Private to "bestiegen": g. Private to "Bestien": -.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bestiegenbbestiegen · besitegen · besstiegen · bestieegn · bestiegenn · bestieggen · bestiegne · bestigeen
  • Bestienbbestien · besiten · besstien · bestein · bestienn · bestine · besttien · betsien

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bestiegen" and "Bestien" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bestiegen" is a verb and "Bestien" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bestiegen" or "Bestien"?
"bestiegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,475 in our German list, against #48,773 for "Bestien". 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 "bestiegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bestien" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #220,566 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bestiegen" and "Bestien" 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 #220,566 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