befugtvsbeugtWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#25,060
“befugt” frequency rank
#20,190
“beugt” frequency rank
45250
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature befugt beugt
Definition die Befugnis, das Recht, die Bevollmächtigung zu etwas besitzend 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs beugen

Where the eye mixes befugt and beugt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
befugt
5 ch
beugt

Visual trap between befugt and beugt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: befugt is [bəˈfuːkt] while beugt is [bɔɪ̯kt]. 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 45250, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

befugt is recorded at frequency rank #25,060, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈfuːkt]. beugt is at rank #20,190, tagged as averb, pronounced [bɔɪ̯kt].

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 45250, this pair ranks #1,359,459 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of befugt vs beugt

Shared letters: begtu. Private to "befugt": f. Private to "beugt": -.

"befugt" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "beugt" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • befugtbbefugt · beffugt · befgut · befuggt · befugtt · befutg · beufgt · bfeugt
  • beugtbbeugt · begut · beuggt · beugtt · beutg · buegt · ebugt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "befugt" and "beugt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "befugt" is an adjective and "beugt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "befugt" vs "beugt" - which ranks higher?
"beugt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,190 in our German list, against #25,060 for "befugt". 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 "befugt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beugt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,359,459 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "befugt" and "beugt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "befugt vs befuhr". 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 #1,359,459 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