behauptenvsbehauptetWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,805
“behaupten” frequency rank
#2,534
“behauptet” frequency rank
5339
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature behaupten behauptet
Definition etwas sagen, was nicht stimmen muss oder gar unglaubwürdig ist Partizip Perfekt des Verbs behaupten

Where the eye mixes behaupten and behauptet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. behaupten and behauptet follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
behaupten
9 ch
behauptet

Why the eye confuses behaupten with behauptet

A purely visual mix-up. behaupten ([bəˈhaʊ̯ptn̩]) 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 a single letter - n in “behaupten” becomes t in “behauptet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5339, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

behaupten is recorded at frequency rank #2,805, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈhaʊ̯ptn̩]. 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 5339, this pair ranks #1,995,064 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of behaupten vs behauptet

Shared letters: abehptu. Private to "behaupten": n. Private to "behauptet": -.

"behaupten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC  ·  "behauptet" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • behauptenbbehaupten · beahupten · behaputen · behaupetn · behauppten · behauptenn · behauptne · behauptten
  • behauptetbbehauptet · beahuptet · behaputet · behaupett · behaupptet · behauptett · behauptte · behaupttet

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "behaupten" for "behauptet" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈhaʊ̯ptn̩] versus [bəˈhaʊ̯ptət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "behaupten" vs "behauptet" - which ranks higher?
"behauptet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,534 in our German list, against #2,805 for "behaupten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "behaupten" 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 #1,995,064 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "behaupten" and "behauptet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "behaltet vs behauptet". 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 #1,995,064 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