Which to use
“bestreiten” and “betreiben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,521
- “bestreiten” frequency rank
- #3,564
- “betreiben” frequency rank
- 12085
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bestreiten | betreiben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | entschieden erklären, dass etwas nicht zutreffe; etwas nachdrücklich in Abrede stellen | etwas am Laufen halten |
Where the eye mixes bestreiten and betreiben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. bestreiten runs 10 letters (CVCCCVVCVC) against betreiben's 9 (CVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: bestreiten vs betreiben
A purely visual mix-up. bestreiten ([bəˈʃtʁaɪ̯tn̩]) and betreiben ([bəˈtʁaɪ̯bn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12085, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bestreiten is recorded at frequency rank #8,521, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʃtʁaɪ̯tn̩]. betreiben is at rank #3,564, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈtʁaɪ̯bn̩].
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 12085, this pair ranks #1,966,264 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bestreiten vs betreiben
Shared letters: beinrt. Private to "bestreiten": s. Private to "betreiben": -.
"bestreiten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVC · "betreiben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bestreiten ← bbestreiten · besrteiten · besstreiten · besteriten · bestreietn · bestreitenn · bestreitne · bestreitten
- betreiben ← bbetreiben · berteiben · beteriben · betrebien · betreibben · betreibenn · betreibne · betreiebn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bestreiten" for "betreiben" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "bestreiten" or "betreiben" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "bestreiten" and "betreiben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bestreiten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "betreiben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,966,264 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bestreiten" and "betreiben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bestreiten vs Bestzeiten". 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 #1,966,264 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.