bedrängtvsbeträgtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: bedrängt is a verb, beträgt is an unknown, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bedrängt” is a verb and “beträgt” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,838
“bedrängt” frequency rank
#1,656
“beträgt” frequency rank
21494
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bedrängt beträgt
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs bedrängen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv von betragen

Where the eye mixes bedrängt and beträgt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. bedrängt runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCC) against beträgt's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
bedrängt
7 ch
beträgt

Why the eye confuses bedrängt with beträgt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bedrängt is [bəˈdʁɛŋt] while beträgt is [bəˈtʁɛːkt]. 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 unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21494, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bedrängt is recorded at frequency rank #19,838, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈdʁɛŋt]. beträgt is at rank #1,656, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [bəˈtʁɛːkt].

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 21494, this pair ranks #1,885,613 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bedrängt vs beträgt

Shared letters: begrtä. Private to "bedrängt": dn. Private to "beträgt": -.

"bedrängt" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC  ·  "beträgt" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bedrängt" for "beträgt" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bedrängt" is a verb and "beträgt" an unknown, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "bedrängt" vs "beträgt" - which ranks higher?
"beträgt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,656 in our German list, against #19,838 for "bedrängt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "bedrängt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beträgt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,885,613 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bedrängt" and "beträgt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bedrängen vs bedrängt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,885,613 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