Which to use
“befördern” is a verb and “beförderte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,867
- “befördern” frequency rank
- #30,469
- “beförderte” frequency rank
- 43336
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | befördern | beförderte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (unter Zuhilfenahme eines Transportmittels) etwas oder jemanden von einem Ort an einen anderen bringen/schaffen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs befördert |
Where the eye mixes befördern and beförderte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. befördern runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCC) against beförderte's 10 (CVCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between befördern and beförderte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: befördern is [bəˈfœʁdɐn] while beförderte is [bəˈfœʁdɐtə]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43336, 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]. beförderte is at rank #30,469, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈfœʁdɐtə].
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 43336, this pair ranks #1,421,269 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of befördern vs beförderte
Shared letters: bdefrö. Private to "befördern": n. Private to "beförderte": t.
"befördern" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC · "beförderte" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "befördern" for "beförderte" ever safe?
Frequency check: "befördern" vs "beförderte" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "befördern" and "beförderte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "befördern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "beförderte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,421,269 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "befördern" and "beförderte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beförderte vs beordert". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,421,269 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.