betenvsbetetWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,017
“beten” frequency rank
#19,156
“betet” frequency rank
26173
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beten betet
Definition Gott anrufen, zu Gott sprechen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs beten

Where the eye mixes beten and betet

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
beten
5 ch
betet

Why the eye confuses beten with betet

A purely visual mix-up. beten ([ˈbeːtn̩]) and betet ([ˈbeːtət]) 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 a single letter - n in “beten” becomes t in “betet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26173, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beten is recorded at frequency rank #7,017, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbeːtn̩]. betet is at rank #19,156, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbeːtət].

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 26173, this pair ranks #1,822,042 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beten vs betet

Shared letters: bet. Private to "beten": n. Private to "betet": -.

"beten" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "betet" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • betenbbeten · beetn · betenn · betne · bteen · ebten
  • betetbbetet · beett · betett · bettet · bteet · ebtet

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "beten" for "betet" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbeːtn̩] versus [ˈbeːtət]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "beten" or "betet"?
"beten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,017 in our German list, against #19,156 for "betet". 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 "beten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "betet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,822,042 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beten" and "betet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "betet vs betrete". 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 #1,822,042 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