betreibevsBetreiberTell them apart

Quick tell: betreibe is a verb, Betreiber is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“betreibe” is a verb and “Betreiber” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,102
“betreibe” frequency rank
#4,496
“Betreiber” frequency rank
32598
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature betreibe Betreiber
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs betreiben jemand, der etwas betreibt, einsetzt

Where the eye mixes betreibe and Betreiber

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. betreibe runs 8 letters (CVCCVVCV) against Betreiber's 9 (CVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
betreibe
9 ch
Betreiber

Look-alike desk: betreibe vs Betreiber

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: betreibe is [bəˈtʁaɪ̯bə] while Betreiber is [bəˈtʁaɪ̯bɐ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “betreibe” sits inside “Betreiber”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32598, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

betreibe is recorded at frequency rank #28,102, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈtʁaɪ̯bə]. Betreiber is at rank #4,496, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈtʁaɪ̯bɐ].

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 32598, this pair ranks #1,704,195 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of betreibe vs Betreiber

Shared letters: beirt. Private to "betreibe": -. Private to "Betreiber": -.

"betreibe" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV  ·  "Betreiber" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • betreibebbetreibe · berteibe · beteribe · betrebie · betreibbe · betreieb · betrreibe · bettreibe
  • Betreiberbbetreiber · berteiber · beteriber · betrebier · betreibber · betreiberr · betreibre · betreiebr

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "betreibe" for "Betreiber" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "betreibe" is a verb and "Betreiber" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "betreibe" or "Betreiber"?
"Betreiber" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,496 in our German list, against #28,102 for "betreibe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "betreibe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Betreiber" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,704,195 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "betreibe" and "Betreiber" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "betreibe 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 #1,704,195 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