Which to use
“befragen” and “betrügen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,465
- “befragen” frequency rank
- #17,830
- “betrügen” frequency rank
- 30295
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | befragen | betrügen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | um mehrere Auskünfte bitten; Fragen an jemanden stellen | jemandem absichtlich und böswillig die Unwahrheit sagen |
Where the eye mixes befragen and betrügen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. befragen and betrügen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses befragen with betrügen
A purely visual mix-up. befragen ([bəˈfʁaːɡn̩]) and betrügen ([bəˈtʁyːɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30295, 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]. betrügen is at rank #17,830, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈtʁyːɡn̩].
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 30295, this pair ranks #1,750,668 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of befragen vs betrügen
Shared letters: begnr. Private to "befragen": af. Private to "betrügen": tü.
"befragen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "betrügen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- befragen ← bbefragen · befargen · beffragen · befraegn · befragenn · befraggen · befragne · befrgaen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "befragen" and "betrügen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "befragen" or "betrügen" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "befragen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "betrügen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,750,668 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "befragen" and "betrügen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "betäuben vs betrügen". 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 #1,750,668 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.