befördernvsbefördertWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,867
“befördern” frequency rank
#7,153
“befördert” frequency rank
20020
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature befördern befördert
Definition (unter Zuhilfenahme eines Transportmittels) etwas oder jemanden von einem Ort an einen anderen bringen/schaffen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs befördern

Where the eye mixes befördern and befördert

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. befördern and befördert follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
befördern
9 ch
befördert

Look-alike desk: befördern vs befördert

A purely visual mix-up. befördern ([bəˈfœʁdɐn]) and befördert ([bəˈfœʁdɐt]) 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 a single letter - n in “befördern” becomes t in “befördert”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20020, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

befördern is recorded at frequency rank #12,867, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈfœʁdɐn]. befördert is at rank #7,153, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈfœʁdɐt].

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 20020, this pair ranks #1,902,159 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of befördern vs befördert

Shared letters: bdefrö. Private to "befördern": n. Private to "befördert": t.

"befördern" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC  ·  "befördert" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "befördern" and "befördert" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈfœʁdɐn] versus [bəˈfœʁdɐt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "befördern" vs "befördert" - which ranks higher?
"befördert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,153 in our German list, against #12,867 for "befördern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "befördern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "befördert" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,902,159 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "befördern" and "befördert" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "befördern vs beordert". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,902,159 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