beobachtevsbeobachtetTell them apart

Which to use

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

#15,308
“beobachte” frequency rank
#2,535
“beobachtet” frequency rank
17843
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beobachte beobachtet
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs beobachten Partizip Perfekt des Verbs beobachten

Where the eye mixes beobachte and beobachtet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. beobachte runs 9 letters (CVVCVCCCV) against beobachtet's 10 (CVVCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
beobachte
10 ch
beobachtet

Look-alike desk: beobachte vs beobachtet

A purely visual mix-up. beobachte ([bəˈʔoːbaxtə]) and beobachtet ([bəˈʔoːbaxtət]) 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) - “beobachte” sits inside “beobachtet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beobachte is recorded at frequency rank #15,308, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʔoːbaxtə]. beobachtet is at rank #2,535, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈʔoːbaxtət].

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 17843, this pair ranks #1,923,755 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beobachte vs beobachtet

Shared letters: abcehot. Private to "beobachte": -. Private to "beobachtet": -.

"beobachte" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCCCV  ·  "beobachtet" · 10 letters · shape CVVCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beobachtebbeobachte · beboachte · beoabchte · beobacchte · beobachet · beobachhte · beobacthe · beobahcte
  • beobachtetbbeobachtet · beboachtet · beoabchtet · beobacchtet · beobachett · beobachhtet · beobachtett · beobachtte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "beobachte" and "beobachtet" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʔoːbaxtə] versus [bəˈʔoːbaxtət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "beobachte" vs "beobachtet" - which ranks higher?
"beobachtet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,535 in our German list, against #15,308 for "beobachte". 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 "beobachte" and "beobachtet" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "beobachte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beobachtet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,923,755 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beobachte" and "beobachtet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bedachte vs beobachte". 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 #1,923,755 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