bestätigtvsbetätigteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,542
“bestätigt” frequency rank
#43,060
“betätigte” frequency rank
44602
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bestätigt betätigte
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs bestätigen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs betätigt

Where the eye mixes bestätigt and betätigte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

9 ch
bestätigt
9 ch
betätigte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bestätigt is [bəˈʃtɛːtɪçt] while betätigte is [bəˈtɛːtɪçtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 7 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44602, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bestätigt is recorded at frequency rank #1,542, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʃtɛːtɪçt]. betätigte is at rank #43,060, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈtɛːtɪçtə].

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 44602, this pair ranks #1,380,860 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bestätigt vs betätigte

Shared letters: begitä. Private to "bestätigt": s. Private to "betätigte": -.

"bestätigt" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC  ·  "betätigte" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bestätigt" and "betätigte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bestätigt" is a verb and "betätigte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bestätigt" or "betätigte"?
"bestätigt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,542 in our German list, against #43,060 for "betätigte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list