bedeutevsbedeuteteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#19,837
“bedeute” frequency rank
#7,151
“bedeutete” frequency rank
26988
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bedeute bedeutete
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bedeuten 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs bedeuten

Where the eye mixes bedeute and bedeutete

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. bedeute runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against bedeutete's 9 (CVCVVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
bedeute
9 ch
bedeutete

Look-alike desk: bedeute vs bedeutete

A purely visual mix-up. bedeute ([bəˈdɔɪ̯tə]) and bedeutete ([bəˈdɔɪ̯tətə]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “bedeute” sits inside “bedeutete”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26988, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bedeute is recorded at frequency rank #19,837, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈdɔɪ̯tə]. bedeutete is at rank #7,151, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈdɔɪ̯tətə].

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 26988, this pair ranks #1,809,095 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bedeute vs bedeutete

Shared letters: bdetu. Private to "bedeute": -. Private to "bedeutete": -.

"bedeute" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "bedeutete" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bedeutebbedeute · bdeeute · beddeute · bedetue · bedeuet · beduete · beedute · ebdeute
  • bedeutetebbedeutete · bdeeutete · beddeutete · bedetuete · bedeuette · bedeuteet · bedeutette · bedeuttee

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bedeute" and "bedeutete" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈdɔɪ̯tə] versus [bəˈdɔɪ̯tətə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "bedeute" or "bedeutete" show up more?
"bedeutete" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,151 in our German list, against #19,837 for "bedeute". 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 "bedeute" and "bedeutete" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bedeute" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bedeutete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,809,095 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bedeute" and "bedeutete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bedeute vs bedeutest". 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 #1,809,095 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