berichtenvsberichteteConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#2,052
“berichten” frequency rank
#4,866
“berichtete” frequency rank
6918
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature berichten berichtete
Definition über etwas informieren Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs berichtet

Where the eye mixes berichten and berichtete

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. berichten runs 9 letters (CVCVCCCVC) against berichtete's 10 (CVCVCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
berichten
10 ch
berichtete

Visual trap between berichten and berichtete

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: berichten is [bəˈʁɪçtn̩] while berichtete is [bəˈʁɪçtətə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6918, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

berichten is recorded at frequency rank #2,052, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʁɪçtn̩]. berichtete is at rank #4,866, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʁɪçtətə].

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 6918, this pair ranks #1,990,028 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of berichten vs berichtete

Shared letters: bcehirt. Private to "berichten": n. Private to "berichtete": -.

"berichten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC  ·  "berichtete" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • berichtenbberichten · beirchten · bercihten · bericchten · berichetn · berichhten · berichtenn · berichtne
  • berichtetebberichtete · beirchtete · bercihtete · bericchtete · berichette · berichhtete · berichteet · berichtette

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "berichten" and "berichtete" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "berichten" is a verb and "berichtete" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "berichten" or "berichtete" show up more?
"berichten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,052 in our German list, against #4,866 for "berichtete". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "berichten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "berichtete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,990,028 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "berichten" and "berichtete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "berichten vs berichtigen". 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 #1,990,028 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