befragtevsbetrageConfusable pair

Quick tell: befragte is a adjective, betrage is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“befragte” is an adjective and “betrage” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,435
“befragte” frequency rank
#38,002
“betrage” frequency rank
61437
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature befragte betrage
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs befragt 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs betragen

Where the eye mixes befragte and betrage

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

8 ch
befragte
7 ch
betrage

Visual trap between befragte and betrage

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: befragte is [bəˈfʁaːktə] while betrage is [bəˈtʁaːɡə]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61437, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

befragte is recorded at frequency rank #23,435, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈfʁaːktə]. 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 61437, this pair ranks #749,789 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of befragte vs betrage

Shared letters: abegrt. Private to "befragte": f. Private to "betrage": -.

"befragte" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "betrage" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • befragtebbefragte · befargte · beffragte · befraget · befraggte · befragtte · befratge · befrgate
  • betragebbetrage · bertage · betarge · betraeg · betragge · betrgae · betrrage · bettrage

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "befragte" for "betrage" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "befragte" is an adjective and "betrage" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "befragte" or "betrage"?
"befragte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,435 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

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "befragte" 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 #749,789 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "befragte" 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 #749,789 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