Which to use
“bestimmen” is a verb and “bestimmende” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,360
- “bestimmen” frequency rank
- #47,261
- “bestimmende” frequency rank
- 50621
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bestimmen | bestimmende |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | festlegen, zum Beispiel einen Preis, eine Zeitdauer, einen Umfang | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs bestimmend |
Where the eye mixes bestimmen and bestimmende
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. bestimmen runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against bestimmende's 11 (CVCCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: bestimmen vs bestimmende
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bestimmen is [bəˈʃtɪmən] while bestimmende is [bəˈʃtɪməndə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “bestimmen” sits inside “bestimmende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50621, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bestimmen is recorded at frequency rank #3,360, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʃtɪmən]. bestimmende is at rank #47,261, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʃtɪməndə].
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 50621, this pair ranks #1,166,782 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bestimmen vs bestimmende
Shared letters: beimnst. Private to "bestimmen": -. Private to "bestimmende": d.
"bestimmen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "bestimmende" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- bestimmen ← bbestimmen · besitmmen · besstimmen · bestimemn · bestimen · bestimmenn · bestimmne · bestmimen
- bestimmende ← bbestimmende · besitmmende · besstimmende · bestimemnde · bestimende · bestimmedne · bestimmendde · bestimmened
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bestimmen" and "bestimmende" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "bestimmen" vs "bestimmende" - which ranks higher?
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 "bestimmen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bestimmende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,166,782 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bestimmen" and "bestimmende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bestimmende vs bestimmenden". 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 #1,166,782 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.