BeschäftigtevsBeschäftigterConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#5,065
“Beschäftigte” frequency rank
#46,520
“Beschäftigter” frequency rank
51585
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Beschäftigte Beschäftigter
Definition eine weibliche Person, die einer nichtselbstständigen Tätigkeit nachgeht eine Person, die einer nichtselbstständigen Tätigkeit nachgeht

Where the eye mixes Beschäftigte and Beschäftigter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. Beschäftigte runs 12 letters (CVCCCVCCVCCV) against Beschäftigter's 13 (CVCCCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

12 ch
Beschäftigte
13 ch
Beschäftigter

Why the eye confuses Beschäftigte with Beschäftigter

A purely visual mix-up. Beschäftigte ([bəˈʃɛftɪçtə]) and Beschäftigter ([bəˈʃɛftɪçtɐ]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “Beschäftigte” sits inside “Beschäftigter”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51585, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Beschäftigte is recorded at frequency rank #5,065, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈʃɛftɪçtə]. Beschäftigter is at rank #46,520, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈʃɛftɪçtɐ].

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 51585, this pair ranks #1,129,850 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Beschäftigte vs Beschäftigter

Shared letters: bcefghistä. Private to "Beschäftigte": -. Private to "Beschäftigter": r.

"Beschäftigte" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCCV  ·  "Beschäftigter" · 13 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Beschäftigte" for "Beschäftigter" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʃɛftɪçtə] versus [bəˈʃɛftɪçtɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Beschäftigte" vs "Beschäftigter" - which ranks higher?
"Beschäftigte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,065 in our German list, against #46,520 for "Beschäftigter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Beschäftigte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Beschäftigter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,129,850 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Beschäftigte" and "Beschäftigter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beschäftige vs Beschäftigter". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,129,850 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