berechtigtenvsberüchtigtenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#12,869
“berechtigten” frequency rank
#21,547
“berüchtigten” frequency rank
34416
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature berechtigten berüchtigten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs berechtigt Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs berüchtigt

Where the eye mixes berechtigten and berüchtigten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. berechtigten and berüchtigten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

12 ch
berechtigten
12 ch
berüchtigten

Why the eye confuses berechtigten with berüchtigten

A purely visual mix-up. berechtigten ([bəˈʁɛçtɪçtn̩]) and berüchtigten ([bəˈʁʏçtɪçtn̩]) 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 a single letter - e in “berechtigten” becomes ü in “berüchtigten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34416, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

berechtigten is recorded at frequency rank #12,869, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʁɛçtɪçtn̩]. berüchtigten is at rank #21,547, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʁʏçtɪçtn̩].

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 34416, this pair ranks #1,663,831 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of berechtigten vs berüchtigten

Shared letters: bceghinrt. Private to "berechtigten": -. Private to "berüchtigten": ü.

"berechtigten" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCCVC  ·  "berüchtigten" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • berechtigtenbberechtigten · beerchtigten · bercehtigten · berecchtigten · berechhtigten · berechitgten · berechtgiten · berechtigetn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "berechtigten" and "berüchtigten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʁɛçtɪçtn̩] versus [bəˈʁʏçtɪçtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "berechtigten" or "berüchtigten" show up more?
"berechtigten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,869 in our German list, against #21,547 for "berüchtigten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "berechtigten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "berüchtigten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,663,831 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "berechtigten" and "berüchtigten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "berechtigtes vs berüchtigten". 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 #1,663,831 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