beschädigtevsBeschäftigteWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: beschädigte is a adjective, Beschäftigte is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“beschädigte” is an adjective and “Beschäftigte” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,154
“beschädigte” frequency rank
#5,065
“Beschäftigte” frequency rank
24219
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beschädigte Beschäftigte
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs beschädigt eine weibliche Person, die einer nichtselbstständigen Tätigkeit nachgeht

Where the eye mixes beschädigte and Beschäftigte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. beschädigte runs 11 letters (CVCCCVCVCCV) against Beschäftigte's 12 (CVCCCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
beschädigte
12 ch
Beschäftigte

Why the eye confuses beschädigte with Beschäftigte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: beschädigte is [bəˈʃɛːdɪçtə] while Beschäftigte is [bəˈʃɛftɪçtə]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24219, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beschädigte is recorded at frequency rank #19,154, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʃɛːdɪçtə]. Beschäftigte is at rank #5,065, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈʃɛftɪçtə].

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 24219, this pair ranks #1,850,743 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beschädigte vs Beschäftigte

Shared letters: bceghistä. Private to "beschädigte": d. Private to "Beschäftigte": f.

"beschädigte" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCCV  ·  "Beschäftigte" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "beschädigte" and "Beschäftigte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "beschädigte" is an adjective and "Beschäftigte" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "beschädigte" or "Beschäftigte" show up more?
"Beschäftigte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,065 in our German list, against #19,154 for "beschädigte". 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 "beschädigte" and "Beschäftigte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "beschädigte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Beschäftigte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,850,743 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beschädigte" and "Beschäftigte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Beschäftigte vs Beschäftigter". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,850,743 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