betrachtevsbetrachteteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: betrachte is a verb, betrachtete is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“betrachte” is a verb and “betrachtete” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,248
“betrachte” frequency rank
#16,099
“betrachtete” frequency rank
28347
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature betrachte betrachtete
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs betrachten Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs betrachtet

Where the eye mixes betrachte and betrachtete

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. betrachte runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCCV) against betrachtete's 11 (CVCCVCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
betrachte
11 ch
betrachtete

Look-alike desk: betrachte vs betrachtete

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: betrachte is [bəˈtʁaxtə] while betrachtete is [bəˈtʁaxtətə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “betrachte” sits inside “betrachtete”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28347, 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]. betrachtete is at rank #16,099, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈtʁaxtətə].

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 28347, this pair ranks #1,786,413 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of betrachte vs betrachtete

Shared letters: abcehrt. Private to "betrachte": -. Private to "betrachtete": -.

"betrachte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV  ·  "betrachtete" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • betrachtebbetrachte · bertachte · betarchte · betracchte · betrachet · betrachhte · betracthe · betrahcte
  • betrachtetebbetrachtete · bertachtete · betarchtete · betracchtete · betrachette · betrachhtete · betrachteet · betrachtette

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "betrachte" and "betrachtete" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "betrachte" is a verb and "betrachtete" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "betrachte" or "betrachtete"?
"betrachte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,248 in our German list, against #16,099 for "betrachtete". 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 "betrachtete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,786,413 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "betrachte" and "betrachtete" 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 #1,786,413 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