belastenvsbelastetWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#9,155
“belasten” frequency rank
#6,160
“belastet” frequency rank
15315
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature belasten belastet
Definition bewirken, dass etwas eine störende oder schädliche Wirkung auf etwas hat schädliche Stoffe aufweisend, verunreinigt (zum Beispiel mit Chemikalien, Pestiziden, Herbiziden, …)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set belasten and belastet apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
belasten
8 ch
belastet

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: belasten is [bəˈlastn̩] while belastet is [bəˈlastət]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “belasten” becomes t in “belastet”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15315, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

belasten is recorded at frequency rank #9,155, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈlastn̩]. belastet is at rank #6,160, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈlastət].

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 15315, this pair ranks #1,944,822 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of belasten vs belastet

Shared letters: abelst. Private to "belasten": n. Private to "belastet": -.

"belasten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "belastet" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • belastenbbelasten · bealsten · belasetn · belassten · belastenn · belastne · belastten · belatsen
  • belastetbbelastet · bealstet · belasett · belasstet · belastett · belastte · belasttet · belatset

Frequency comparison

belasten#9,155
belastet#6,160

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "belasten" and "belastet" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "belasten" is a verb and "belastet" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "belasten" or "belastet"?
"belastet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,160 in our German list, against #9,155 for "belasten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering belasten vs belastet

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “belasten”; for an adjective, it's “belastet”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “belasten” 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