behaftetvsbehaltenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#30,946
“behaftet” frequency rank
#2,017
“behalten” frequency rank
32963
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature behaftet behalten
Definition mit etwas versehen, von etwas betroffen im Besitz einer Sache bleiben

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set behaftet and behalten apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
behaftet
8 ch
behalten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: behaftet is [bəˈhaftət] while behalten is [bəˈhaltn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32963, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

behaftet is recorded at frequency rank #30,946, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈhaftət]. behalten is at rank #2,017, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈhaltn̩].

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 32963, this pair ranks #1,696,310 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of behaftet vs behalten

Shared letters: abeht. Private to "behaftet": f. Private to "behalten": ln.

"behaftet" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "behalten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • behaftetbbehaftet · beahftet · behafett · behafftet · behaftett · behaftte · behafttet · behatfet
  • behaltenbbehalten · beahlten · behaletn · behallten · behaltenn · behaltne · behaltten · behatlen

Frequency comparison

behaftet#30,946
behalten#2,017

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "behaftet" and "behalten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "behaftet" is an adjective and "behalten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "behaftet" or "behalten"?
"behalten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,017 in our German list, against #30,946 for "behaftet". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering behaftet vs behalten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “behaftet”; for a verb, it's “behalten”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “behaftet” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list