BekanntevsBekannterWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,838
“Bekannte” frequency rank
#4,961
“Bekannter” frequency rank
6799
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bekannte Bekannter
Definition eine weibliche Person, die jemand kennt und die ihn kennt, ohne dass beide befreundet sind Person männlichen oder unbestimmten Geschlechts, die jemand kennt und die ihn kennt, ohne dass beide befreundet sind

Where the eye mixes Bekannte and Bekannter

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

8 ch
Bekannte
9 ch
Bekannter

Why the eye confuses Bekannte with Bekannter

A purely visual mix-up. Bekannte ([bəˈkantə]) and Bekannter ([bəˈkantɐ]) 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) - “Bekannte” sits inside “Bekannter”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6799, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bekannte is recorded at frequency rank #1,838, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈkantə]. Bekannter is at rank #4,961, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈkantɐ].

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 6799, this pair ranks #1,990,411 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Bekannte vs Bekannter

Shared letters: abeknt. Private to "Bekannte": -. Private to "Bekannter": r.

"Bekannte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV  ·  "Bekannter" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bekannte ← bbekannte · beaknnte · bekannet · bekanntte · bekante · bekantne · bekkannte · beknante
  • Bekannter ← bbekannter · beaknnter · bekannetr · bekannterr · bekanntre · bekanntter · bekanter · bekantner

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Bekannte" and "Bekannter" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈkantə] versus [bəˈkantɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Bekannte" or "Bekannter"?
"Bekannte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,838 in our German list, against #4,961 for "Bekannter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Bekannte" and "Bekannter" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Bekannte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bekannter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,990,411 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Bekannte" and "Bekannter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bekannte vs bekenne". 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 #1,990,411 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