berichtetvsberichtetenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,445
“berichtet” frequency rank
#11,823
“berichteten” frequency rank
13268
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature berichtet berichteten
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs berichten Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs berichtet

Where the eye mixes berichtet and berichteten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. berichtet runs 9 letters (CVCVCCCVC) against berichteten's 11 (CVCVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
berichtet
11 ch
berichteten

Visual trap between berichtet and berichteten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: berichtet is [bəˈʁɪçtət] while berichteten is [bəˈʁɪçtətn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “berichtet” sits inside “berichteten”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13268, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

berichtet is recorded at frequency rank #1,445, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʁɪçtət]. berichteten is at rank #11,823, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʁɪçtətn̩].

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 13268, this pair ranks #1,959,037 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of berichtet vs berichteten

Shared letters: bcehirt. Private to "berichtet": -. Private to "berichteten": n.

"berichtet" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC  ·  "berichteten" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • berichtetbberichtet · beirchtet · bercihtet · bericchtet · berichett · berichhtet · berichtett · berichtte
  • berichtetenbberichteten · beirchteten · bercihteten · bericchteten · berichetten · berichhteten · berichteetn · berichtetenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "berichtet" for "berichteten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "berichtet" is a verb and "berichteten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "berichtet" or "berichteten" show up more?
"berichtet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,445 in our German list, against #11,823 for "berichteten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "berichtet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "berichteten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,959,037 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "berichtet" and "berichteten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "berechneten vs berichteten". 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 #1,959,037 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