behandeltvsbehandeltenTell them apart

Quick tell: behandelt is a verb, behandelten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#1,582
“behandelt” frequency rank
#19,841
“behandelten” frequency rank
21423
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature behandelt behandelten
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs behandeln Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs behandelt

Where the eye mixes behandelt and behandelten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. behandelt runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCC) against behandelten's 11 (CVCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
behandelt
11 ch
behandelten

Why the eye confuses behandelt with behandelten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: behandelt is [bəˈhandl̩t] while behandelten is [bəˈhandl̩tn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “behandelt” sits inside “behandelten”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21423, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

behandelt is recorded at frequency rank #1,582, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈhandl̩t]. behandelten is at rank #19,841, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈhandl̩tn̩].

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 21423, this pair ranks #1,886,429 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of behandelt vs behandelten

Shared letters: abdehlnt. Private to "behandelt": -. Private to "behandelten": -.

"behandelt" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC  ·  "behandelten" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • behandelt ← bbehandelt · beahndelt · behadnelt · behanddelt · behandellt · behandeltt · behandetl · behandlet
  • behandelten ← bbehandelten · beahndelten · behadnelten · behanddelten · behandeletn · behandellten · behandeltenn · behandeltne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "behandelt" for "behandelten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "behandelt" is a verb and "behandelten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "behandelt" or "behandelten"?
"behandelt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,582 in our German list, against #19,841 for "behandelten". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "behandelt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "behandelten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,886,429 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "behandelt" and "behandelten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "behandelnden vs behandelten". 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 #1,886,429 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