bestimmenvsbestimmtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: bestimmen is a verb, bestimmt is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bestimmen” is a verb and “bestimmt” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,360
“bestimmen” frequency rank
#485
“bestimmt” frequency rank
3845
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bestimmen bestimmt
Definition festlegen, zum Beispiel einen Preis, eine Zeitdauer, einen Umfang vorher definiert, für den Informierten klar umrissen

Where the eye mixes bestimmen and bestimmt

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

9 ch
bestimmen
8 ch
bestimmt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bestimmen is [bəˈʃtɪmən] while bestimmt is [bəˈʃtɪmt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3845, 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]. bestimmt is at rank #485, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʃtɪmt].

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 3845, this pair ranks #1,999,237 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bestimmen vs bestimmt

Shared letters: beimst. Private to "bestimmen": n. Private to "bestimmt": -.

"bestimmen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "bestimmt" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bestimmenbbestimmen · besitmmen · besstimmen · bestimemn · bestimen · bestimmenn · bestimmne · bestmimen
  • bestimmtbbestimmt · besitmmt · besstimmt · bestimmtt · bestimt · bestimtm · bestmimt · besttimmt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bestimmen" and "bestimmt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bestimmen" is a verb and "bestimmt" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bestimmen" or "bestimmt"?
"bestimmt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #485 in our German list, against #3,360 for "bestimmen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list