beobachtetvsbeobachteteTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#2,535
“beobachtet” frequency rank
#12,034
“beobachtete” frequency rank
14569
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beobachtet beobachtete
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs beobachten Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs beobachtet

Where the eye mixes beobachtet and beobachtete

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. beobachtet runs 10 letters (CVVCVCCCVC) against beobachtete's 11 (CVVCVCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
beobachtet
11 ch
beobachtete

Look-alike desk: beobachtet vs beobachtete

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: beobachtet is [bəˈʔoːbaxtət] while beobachtete is [bəˈʔoːbaxtətə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “beobachtet” sits inside “beobachtete”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14569, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beobachtet is recorded at frequency rank #2,535, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʔoːbaxtət]. beobachtete is at rank #12,034, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʔoːbaxtətə].

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 14569, this pair ranks #1,950,276 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beobachtet vs beobachtete

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

"beobachtet" · 10 letters · shape CVVCVCCCVC  ·  "beobachtete" · 11 letters · shape CVVCVCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beobachtetbbeobachtet · beboachtet · beoabchtet · beobacchtet · beobachett · beobachhtet · beobachtett · beobachtte
  • beobachtetebbeobachtete · beboachtete · beoabchtete · beobacchtete · beobachette · beobachhtete · beobachteet · beobachtette

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "beobachtet" and "beobachtete" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "beobachtet" is a verb and "beobachtete" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "beobachtet" or "beobachtete"?
"beobachtet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,535 in our German list, against #12,034 for "beobachtete". 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 "beobachtet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beobachtete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,950,276 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beobachtet" and "beobachtete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beachtete vs beobachtete". 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 #1,950,276 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