Which to use
“bestimme” and “bestimmen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,472
- “bestimme” frequency rank
- #3,360
- “bestimmen” frequency rank
- 28832
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bestimme | bestimmen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bestimmen | festlegen, zum Beispiel einen Preis, eine Zeitdauer, einen Umfang |
Where the eye mixes bestimme and bestimmen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. bestimme runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against bestimmen's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between bestimme and bestimmen
A purely visual mix-up. bestimme ([bəˈʃtɪmə]) and bestimmen ([bəˈʃtɪmən]) 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) - “bestimme” sits inside “bestimmen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28832, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bestimme is recorded at frequency rank #25,472, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʃtɪmə]. bestimmen is at rank #3,360, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈʃtɪmən].
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 28832, this pair ranks #1,777,786 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bestimme vs bestimmen
Shared letters: beimst. Private to "bestimme": -. Private to "bestimmen": n.
"bestimme" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "bestimmen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bestimme" for "bestimmen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "bestimme" or "bestimmen"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "bestimme" and "bestimmen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bestimme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bestimmen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,777,786 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bestimme" and "bestimmen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bestie vs bestimme". 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 #1,777,786 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.