beauftragenvsBeauftragteConfusable pair

Quick tell: beauftragen is a verb, Beauftragte is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“beauftragen” is a verb and “Beauftragte” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,506
“beauftragen” frequency rank
#10,425
“Beauftragte” frequency rank
29931
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beauftragen Beauftragte
Definition jemandem einen Auftrag geben; jemanden auffordern, etwas zu tun weibliche Person, die mit einem Auftrag oder einer Aufgabe betraut ist, sie erledigen soll und den Auftraggeber eventuell dazu vertritt

Where the eye mixes beauftragen and Beauftragte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. beauftragen (CVVVCCCVCVC) and Beauftragte (CVVVCCCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

11 ch
beauftragen
11 ch
Beauftragte

Why the eye confuses beauftragen with Beauftragte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: beauftragen is [bəˈʔaʊ̯fˌtʁaːɡn̩] while Beauftragte is [bəˈʔaʊ̯ftʁaːktə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29931, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beauftragen is recorded at frequency rank #19,506, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʔaʊ̯fˌtʁaːɡn̩]. Beauftragte is at rank #10,425, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈʔaʊ̯ftʁaːktə].

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 29931, this pair ranks #1,757,575 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beauftragen vs Beauftragte

Shared letters: abefgrtu. Private to "beauftragen": n. Private to "Beauftragte": -.

"beauftragen" · 11 letters · shape CVVVCCCVCVC  ·  "Beauftragte" · 11 letters · shape CVVVCCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beauftragen ← baeuftragen · bbeauftragen · beafutragen · beaufftragen · beaufrtagen · beauftargen · beauftraegn · beauftragenn
  • Beauftragte ← baeuftragte · bbeauftragte · beafutragte · beaufftragte · beaufrtagte · beauftargte · beauftraget · beauftraggte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "beauftragen" and "Beauftragte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "beauftragen" is a verb and "Beauftragte" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "beauftragen" or "Beauftragte" show up more?
"Beauftragte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,425 in our German list, against #19,506 for "beauftragen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "beauftragen" and "Beauftragte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "beauftragen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Beauftragte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,757,575 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beauftragen" and "Beauftragte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beauftragen vs Beauftragter". 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 #1,757,575 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