beachtenvsberichtenTell them apart

Which to use

“beachten” and “berichten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,099
“beachten” frequency rank
#2,052
“berichten” frequency rank
6151
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beachten berichten
Definition jemandem oder etwas Aufmerksamkeit schenken, jemanden oder etwas zur Kenntnis nehmen über etwas informieren

Where the eye mixes beachten and berichten

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

8 ch
beachten
9 ch
berichten

Look-alike desk: beachten vs berichten

A purely visual mix-up. beachten ([bəˈʔaxtn̩]) and berichten ([bəˈʁɪçtn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6151, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beachten is recorded at frequency rank #4,099, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʔaxtn̩]. berichten is at rank #2,052, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈʁɪçtn̩].

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 6151, this pair ranks #1,992,550 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beachten vs berichten

Shared letters: bcehnt. Private to "beachten": a. Private to "berichten": ir.

"beachten" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCCVC  ·  "berichten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beachtenbaechten · bbeachten · beacchten · beachetn · beachhten · beachtenn · beachtne · beachtten
  • berichtenbberichten · beirchten · bercihten · bericchten · berichetn · berichhten · berichtenn · berichtne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "beachten" for "berichten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʔaxtn̩] versus [bəˈʁɪçtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "beachten" or "berichten"?
"berichten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,052 in our German list, against #4,099 for "beachten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "beachten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "berichten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,992,550 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beachten" and "berichten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beachten vs bedachte". 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 #1,992,550 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list