Which to use
“beschäftigt” and “beschäftigten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,347
- “beschäftigt” frequency rank
- #5,066
- “beschäftigten” frequency rank
- 6413
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | beschäftigt | beschäftigten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ausgelastet durch (bezahlte) Tätigkeit | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs beschäftigt |
Where the eye mixes beschäftigt and beschäftigten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. beschäftigt runs 11 letters (CVCCCVCCVCC) against beschäftigten's 13 (CVCCCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between beschäftigt and beschäftigten
A purely visual mix-up. beschäftigt ([bəˈʃɛftɪçt]) and beschäftigten ([bəˈʃɛftɪçtn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “beschäftigt” sits inside “beschäftigten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6413, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
beschäftigt is recorded at frequency rank #1,347, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʃɛftɪçt]. beschäftigten is at rank #5,066, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʃɛftɪçtn̩].
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 6413, this pair ranks #1,991,724 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of beschäftigt vs beschäftigten
Shared letters: bcefghistä. Private to "beschäftigt": -. Private to "beschäftigten": n.
"beschäftigt" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCC · "beschäftigten" · 13 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "beschäftigt" for "beschäftigten" ever safe?
Frequency check: "beschäftigt" vs "beschäftigten" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "beschäftigt" and "beschäftigten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "beschäftigt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "beschäftigten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,991,724 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "beschäftigt" and "beschäftigten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beschäftigten vs Beschäftigter". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,991,724 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.