bestimmen

[bəˈʃtɪmən]

/[bəˈʃtɪmən]/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“bestimmen” has 12 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #3,360. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,360
frequency rank, German
72,680
“B” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
10
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - festlegen, zum Beispiel einen Preis, eine Zeitdauer, einen Umfang

Corpus desk

Index DE-bestimmen · bestimmen · German

bestimmen · rank #3,360 · 12 variants · 10 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,360
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 10 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 72,680
  • PHOTO-FINISH Bern

Nearest frequency peer: Bern (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “bestimmen”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “bestimmen” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of May 6, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

bestimmen vs bestimmt
78% similar
bestimmen vs bestimmte
78% similar
bestimmen vs bestimmten
90% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for bestimmen
PropertyValue
Headwordbestimmen
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[bəˈʃtɪmən]
Letters9
Frequency rank#3,360
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs10
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “bestimmen” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). bestimmen lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around bestimmen (IPA [bəˈʃtɪmən]), averb. Corpus frequency is #3,360 among 72,680 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for bestimmen, with forms such as "bbestimmen", "besitmmen", and "besstimmen". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 10 confusable-pair relationships, "bestimmt", "bestimmte", "bestimmten", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is bestimmen, spelled B-E-S-T-I-M-M-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    festlegen, zum Beispiel einen Preis, eine Zeitdauer, einen Umfang
  2. 2
    entscheiden, anordnen, über jemanden oder über etwas Verfügungsgewalt ausüben
  3. 3
    die genaue Art einer Pflanze oder eines Tieres feststellen
  4. 4
    mit wissenschaftlichen Methoden ermitteln oder spezifizieren
  5. 5
    prägen, an dem äußeren Erscheinen wesentlich beteiligt sein
  6. 6
    vorsehen, als Ziel vorgeben oder für eine Aufgabe oder eine Laufbahn auswählen
  7. 7
    jemanden zu etwas veranlassen

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how bestimmen appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. „Der Bundeskanzler bestimmt die Richtlinien der Politik und trägt dafür die Verantwortung.“ (Art. 65, GG)
  2. „Inwieweit Organe der Gemeinden als Sicherheitsbehörden einzuschreiten haben, bestimmen die Bundesgesetze.“

This word in other languages

determine(English)determinar(Español)déterminer(Français)determinar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbestimmen
  • besitmmen
  • besstimmen
  • bestimemn
  • bestimen
  • bestimmenn
  • bestimmne
  • bestmimen
  • besttimmen
  • betsimmen
  • bsetimmen
  • ebstimmen

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bestimmen - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

bbestimmen1besitmmen2besstimmen1bestimemn2bestimen1bestimmenn1bestimmne2bestmimen2
Edit distance from "bestimmen"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bestimmen"?
"bestimmen" is spelled B-E-S-T-I-M-M-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is [bəˈʃtɪmən].
What does "bestimmen" mean?
As a verb, "bestimmen" means: festlegen, zum Beispiel einen Preis, eine Zeitdauer, einen Umfang
What words are commonly confused with "bestimmen"?
"bestimmen" is commonly confused with "bestimmt", "bestimmte", "bestimmten". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bestimmen"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bestimmen" is [bəˈʃtɪmən]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "bestimmen" come from?
"bestimmen" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bestimmen", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

einsetzen#3,368abgelehnt#3,350übersetzt#3,349umgesetzt#3,343

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

Freizeit12 variantsvermisst12 variantsSystems12 variantsRegelung12 variants
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list