befragenvsbetrageWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#12,465
“befragen” frequency rank
#38,002
“betrage” frequency rank
50467
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature befragen betrage
Definition um mehrere Auskünfte bitten; Fragen an jemanden stellen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs betragen

Where the eye mixes befragen and betrage

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

8 ch
befragen
7 ch
betrage

Visual trap between befragen and betrage

A purely visual mix-up. befragen ([bəˈfʁaːɡn̩]) and betrage ([bəˈtʁaːɡə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50467, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

befragen is recorded at frequency rank #12,465, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈfʁaːɡn̩]. betrage is at rank #38,002, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈtʁaːɡə].

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 50467, this pair ranks #1,172,635 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of befragen vs betrage

Shared letters: abegr. Private to "befragen": fn. Private to "betrage": t.

"befragen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "betrage" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • befragenbbefragen · befargen · beffragen · befraegn · befragenn · befraggen · befragne · befrgaen
  • betragebbetrage · bertage · betarge · betraeg · betragge · betrgae · betrrage · bettrage

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "befragen" and "betrage" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈfʁaːɡn̩] versus [bəˈtʁaːɡə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "befragen" or "betrage"?
"befragen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,465 in our German list, against #38,002 for "betrage". 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 "befragen" and "betrage" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "befragen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "betrage" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,172,635 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "befragen" and "betrage" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "betrage vs betrete". 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 #1,172,635 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