behauptevsbehauptetTell them apart

Which to use

“behaupte” and “behauptet” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,368
“behaupte” frequency rank
#2,534
“behauptet” frequency rank
18902
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature behaupte behauptet
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs behaupten Partizip Perfekt des Verbs behaupten

Where the eye mixes behaupte and behauptet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. behaupte runs 8 letters (CVCVVCCV) against behauptet's 9 (CVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
behaupte
9 ch
behauptet

Look-alike desk: behaupte vs behauptet

A purely visual mix-up. behaupte ([bəˈhaʊ̯ptə]) and behauptet ([bəˈhaʊ̯ptət]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “behaupte” sits inside “behauptet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18902, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

behaupte is recorded at frequency rank #16,368, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈhaʊ̯ptə]. behauptet is at rank #2,534, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈhaʊ̯ptət].

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 18902, this pair ranks #1,913,715 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of behaupte vs behauptet

Shared letters: abehptu. Private to "behaupte": -. Private to "behauptet": -.

"behaupte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV  ·  "behauptet" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • behaupte ← bbehaupte · beahupte · behapute · behaupet · behauppte · behautpe · behhaupte · behuapte
  • behauptet ← bbehauptet · beahuptet · behaputet · behaupett · behaupptet · behauptett · behauptte · behaupttet

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "behaupte" for "behauptet" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈhaʊ̯ptə] versus [bəˈhaʊ̯ptət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "behaupte" or "behauptet" show up more?
"behauptet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,534 in our German list, against #16,368 for "behaupte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "behaupte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "behauptet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,913,715 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "behaupte" and "behauptet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "behaupte vs behauptest". 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 #1,913,715 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