Which to use
“betreiben” is a verb and “Betrieben” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,564
- “betreiben” frequency rank
- #2,385
- “Betrieben” frequency rank
- 5949
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | betreiben | Betrieben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas am Laufen halten | Dativ Plural des Substantivs Betrieb |
Where the eye mixes betreiben and Betrieben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. betreiben and Betrieben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses betreiben with Betrieben
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: betreiben is [bəˈtʁaɪ̯bn̩] while Betrieben is [bəˈtʁiːbn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (ei ↔ ie) - a transposition the eye reads straight past, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5949, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
betreiben is recorded at frequency rank #3,564, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈtʁaɪ̯bn̩]. Betrieben is at rank #2,385, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈtʁiːbn̩].
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 5949, this pair ranks #1,993,194 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of betreiben vs Betrieben
Shared letters: beinrt. Private to "betreiben": -. Private to "Betrieben": -.
"betreiben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC · "Betrieben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "betreiben" and "Betrieben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "betreiben" vs "Betrieben" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "betreiben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Betrieben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,993,194 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "betreiben" and "Betrieben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bereisen vs betreiben". 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 #1,993,194 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.