Which to use
“bestimmter” and “bestimmtes” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,580
- “bestimmter” frequency rank
- #8,180
- “bestimmtes” frequency rank
- 15760
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bestimmter | bestimmtes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs bestimmt | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs bestimmt |
Where the eye mixes bestimmter and bestimmtes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. bestimmter and bestimmtes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between bestimmter and bestimmtes
A purely visual mix-up. bestimmter ([bəˈʃtɪmtɐ]) and bestimmtes ([bəˈʃtɪmtəs]) 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 a single letter - r in “bestimmter” becomes s in “bestimmtes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15760, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bestimmter is recorded at frequency rank #7,580, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʃtɪmtɐ]. bestimmtes is at rank #8,180, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʃtɪmtəs].
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 15760, this pair ranks #1,941,361 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bestimmter vs bestimmtes
Shared letters: beimst. Private to "bestimmter": r. Private to "bestimmtes": -.
"bestimmter" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC · "bestimmtes" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bestimmter ← bbestimmter · besitmmter · besstimmter · bestimmetr · bestimmterr · bestimmtre · bestimmtter · bestimter
- bestimmtes ← bbestimmtes · besitmmtes · besstimmtes · bestimmets · bestimmtess · bestimmtse · bestimmttes · bestimtes
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bestimmter" and "bestimmtes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "bestimmter" or "bestimmtes" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bestimmter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bestimmtes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,941,361 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bestimmter" and "bestimmtes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bestimme vs bestimmtes". 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 #1,941,361 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.