Which to use
“beobachtet” is a verb and “beobachteten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,535
- “beobachtet” frequency rank
- #17,825
- “beobachteten” frequency rank
- 20360
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | beobachtet | beobachteten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs beobachten | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs beobachtet |
Where the eye mixes beobachtet and beobachteten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. beobachtet runs 10 letters (CVVCVCCCVC) against beobachteten's 12 (CVVCVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses beobachtet with beobachteten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: beobachtet is [bəˈʔoːbaxtət] while beobachteten is [bəˈʔoːbaxtətn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “beobachtet” sits inside “beobachteten”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20360, 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]. beobachteten is at rank #17,825, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʔoːbaxtətn̩].
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 20360, this pair ranks #1,898,532 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of beobachtet vs beobachteten
Shared letters: abcehot. Private to "beobachtet": -. Private to "beobachteten": n.
"beobachtet" · 10 letters · shape CVVCVCCCVC · "beobachteten" · 12 letters · shape CVVCVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- beobachtet ← bbeobachtet · beboachtet · beoabchtet · beobacchtet · beobachett · beobachhtet · beobachtett · beobachtte
- beobachteten ← bbeobachteten · beboachteten · beoabchteten · beobacchteten · beobachetten · beobachhteten · beobachteetn · beobachtetenn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "beobachtet" for "beobachteten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "beobachtet" or "beobachteten" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "beobachtet" and "beobachteten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "beobachtet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "beobachteten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,898,532 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "beobachtet" and "beobachteten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beachteten vs beobachteten". 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 #1,898,532 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.