beteiligtvsbeteiligteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,053
“beteiligt” frequency rank
#11,393
“beteiligte” frequency rank
13446
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beteiligt beteiligte
Definition als Partizip Passiv, in „beteiligt sein“: Ein Teil sein von, teilnehmen, mitmachen, teilhaben, aufmerksam sein Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs beteiligt

Where the eye mixes beteiligt and beteiligte

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

9 ch
beteiligt
10 ch
beteiligte

Visual trap between beteiligt and beteiligte

A purely visual mix-up. beteiligt ([bəˈtaɪ̯lɪçt]) and beteiligte ([bəˈtaɪ̯lɪçtə]) 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) - “beteiligt” sits inside “beteiligte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13446, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beteiligt is recorded at frequency rank #2,053, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈtaɪ̯lɪçt]. beteiligte is at rank #11,393, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈtaɪ̯lɪçtə].

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 13446, this pair ranks #1,957,945 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beteiligt vs beteiligte

Shared letters: begilt. Private to "beteiligt": -. Private to "beteiligte": -.

"beteiligt" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCVCC  ·  "beteiligte" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beteiligtbbeteiligt · beetiligt · beteiilgt · beteilgit · beteiliggt · beteiligtt · beteilitg · beteilligt
  • beteiligtebbeteiligte · beetiligte · beteiilgte · beteilgite · beteiliget · beteiliggte · beteiligtte · beteilitge

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "beteiligt" for "beteiligte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈtaɪ̯lɪçt] versus [bəˈtaɪ̯lɪçtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "beteiligt" vs "beteiligte" - which ranks higher?
"beteiligt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,053 in our German list, against #11,393 for "beteiligte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "beteiligt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beteiligte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,957,945 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beteiligt" and "beteiligte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beteilige vs beteiligte". 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 #1,957,945 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