betrafenvsbetragenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#32,447
“betrafen” frequency rank
#6,515
“betragen” frequency rank
38962
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature betrafen betragen
Definition 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs betreffen einen Wert, eine zahlenmäßige Größe, einen Geldbetrag darstellen, ausmachen, umfassen

Where the eye mixes betrafen and betragen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. betrafen and betragen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
betrafen
8 ch
betragen

Visual trap between betrafen and betragen

A purely visual mix-up. betrafen ([bəˈtʁaːfn̩]) and betragen ([bəˈtʁaːɡn̩]) 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 - f in “betrafen” becomes g in “betragen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38962, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

betrafen is recorded at frequency rank #32,447, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈtʁaːfn̩]. betragen is at rank #6,515, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈtʁaːɡn̩].

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 38962, this pair ranks #1,549,932 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of betrafen vs betragen

Shared letters: abenrt. Private to "betrafen": f. Private to "betragen": g.

"betrafen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "betragen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • betrafen ← bbetrafen · bertafen · betarfen · betraefn · betrafenn · betraffen · betrafne · betrfaen
  • betragen ← bbetragen · bertagen · betargen · betraegn · betragenn · betraggen · betragne · betrgaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "betrafen" for "betragen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈtʁaːfn̩] versus [bəˈtʁaːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "betrafen" or "betragen" show up more?
"betragen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,515 in our German list, against #32,447 for "betrafen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "betrafen" and "betragen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "betrafen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "betragen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,549,932 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "betrafen" and "betragen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "betrafen vs Betrages". 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 #1,549,932 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