beteiligevsbeteiligenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#48,775
“beteilige” frequency rank
#6,514
“beteiligen” frequency rank
55289
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beteilige beteiligen
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs beteiligen an etwas teilnehmen oder teilhaben

Where the eye mixes beteilige and beteiligen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. beteilige runs 9 letters (CVCVVCVCV) against beteiligen's 10 (CVCVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
beteilige
10 ch
beteiligen

Look-alike desk: beteilige vs beteiligen

A purely visual mix-up. beteilige ([bəˈtaɪ̯lɪɡə]) and beteiligen ([bəˈtaɪ̯lɪɡn̩]) 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) - “beteilige” sits inside “beteiligen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55289, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beteilige is recorded at frequency rank #48,775, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈtaɪ̯lɪɡə]. beteiligen is at rank #6,514, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈtaɪ̯lɪɡn̩].

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 55289, this pair ranks #985,400 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of beteilige vs beteiligen

Shared letters: begilt. Private to "beteilige": -. Private to "beteiligen": n.

"beteilige" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCVCV  ·  "beteiligen" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beteiligebbeteilige · beetilige · beteiilge · beteilgie · beteilieg · beteiligge · beteillige · beteliige
  • beteiligenbbeteiligen · beetiligen · beteiilgen · beteilgien · beteiliegn · beteiligenn · beteiliggen · beteiligne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "beteilige" for "beteiligen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈtaɪ̯lɪɡə] versus [bəˈtaɪ̯lɪɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "beteilige" or "beteiligen"?
"beteiligen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,514 in our German list, against #48,775 for "beteilige". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "beteilige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beteiligen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #985,400 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beteilige" and "beteiligen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beleidige vs beteilige". 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 #985,400 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