bergevsbetrageWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,562
“berge” frequency rank
#38,002
“betrage” frequency rank
41564
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature berge betrage
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bergen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs betragen

Where the eye mixes berge and betrage

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. berge runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against betrage's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
berge
7 ch
betrage

Why the eye confuses berge with betrage

A purely visual mix-up. berge ([ˈbɛʁɡə]) and betrage ([bəˈtʁaːɡə]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41564, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

berge is recorded at frequency rank #3,562, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbɛʁɡə]. betrage is at rank #38,002, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈtʁaːɡə].

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 41564, this pair ranks #1,475,689 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of berge vs betrage

Shared letters: begr. Private to "berge": -. Private to "betrage": at.

"berge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "betrage" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bergebberge · begre · bereg · bergge · berrge · brege · ebrge
  • betragebbetrage · bertage · betarge · betraeg · betragge · betrgae · betrrage · bettrage

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "berge" and "betrage" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbɛʁɡə] versus [bəˈtʁaːɡə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "berge" or "betrage" show up more?
"berge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,562 in our German list, against #38,002 for "betrage". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "berge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "betrage" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,475,689 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "berge" and "betrage" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "betrage vs betrete". 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 #1,475,689 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