beauftragenvsBeauftragterWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#19,506
“beauftragen” frequency rank
#29,024
“Beauftragter” frequency rank
48530
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes beauftragen and Beauftragter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. beauftragen runs 11 letters (CVVVCCCVCVC) against Beauftragter's 12 (CVVVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
beauftragen
12 ch
Beauftragter

Look-alike desk: beauftragen vs Beauftragter

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: beauftragen is [bəˈʔaʊ̯fˌtʁaːɡn̩] while Beauftragter is [bəˈʔaʊ̯ftʁaːktɐ]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48530, 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]. Beauftragter is at rank #29,024, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈʔaʊ̯ftʁaːktɐ].

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 48530, this pair ranks #1,245,168 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of beauftragen vs Beauftragter

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

"beauftragen" · 11 letters · shape CVVVCCCVCVC  ·  "Beauftragter" · 12 letters · shape CVVVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beauftragen ← baeuftragen · bbeauftragen · beafutragen · beaufftragen · beaufrtagen · beauftargen · beauftraegn · beauftragenn
  • Beauftragter ← baeuftragter · bbeauftragter · beafutragter · beaufftragter · beaufrtagter · beauftargter · beauftragetr · beauftraggter

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "beauftragen" and "Beauftragter" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "beauftragen" is a verb and "Beauftragter" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "beauftragen" or "Beauftragter"?
"beauftragen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,506 in our German list, against #29,024 for "Beauftragter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "beauftragen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Beauftragter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,245,168 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beauftragen" and "Beauftragter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Beauftragten 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 #1,245,168 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