betrachtevsbetrachtenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#12,248
“betrachte” frequency rank
#3,175
“betrachten” frequency rank
15423
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature betrachte betrachten
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs betrachten etwas anschauen

Where the eye mixes betrachte and betrachten

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

9 ch
betrachte
10 ch
betrachten

Visual trap between betrachte and betrachten

A purely visual mix-up. betrachte ([bəˈtʁaxtə]) and betrachten ([bəˈtʁaxtn̩]) 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) - “betrachte” sits inside “betrachten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15423, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

betrachte is recorded at frequency rank #12,248, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈtʁaxtə]. betrachten is at rank #3,175, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈtʁaxtn̩].

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 15423, this pair ranks #1,943,972 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of betrachte vs betrachten

Shared letters: abcehrt. Private to "betrachte": -. Private to "betrachten": n.

"betrachte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV  ·  "betrachten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • betrachtebbetrachte · bertachte · betarchte · betracchte · betrachet · betrachhte · betracthe · betrahcte
  • betrachtenbbetrachten · bertachten · betarchten · betracchten · betrachetn · betrachhten · betrachtenn · betrachtne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "betrachte" and "betrachten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈtʁaxtə] versus [bəˈtʁaxtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "betrachte" or "betrachten" show up more?
"betrachten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,175 in our German list, against #12,248 for "betrachte". 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 "betrachte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "betrachten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,943,972 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "betrachte" and "betrachten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bedachte vs betrachte". 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 #1,943,972 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