BetriebenvsbetrinkenWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#2,385
“Betrieben” frequency rank
#30,476
“betrinken” frequency rank
32861
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Betrieben betrinken
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Betrieb größere Mengen von Alkohol zu sich nehmen und sich dadurch berauschen

Where the eye mixes Betrieben and betrinken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Betrieben (CVCCVVCVC) and betrinken (CVCCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
Betrieben
9 ch
betrinken

Look-alike desk: Betrieben vs betrinken

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Betrieben is [bəˈtʁiːbn̩] while betrinken is [bəˈtʁɪŋkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32861, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Betrieben is recorded at frequency rank #2,385, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈtʁiːbn̩]. betrinken is at rank #30,476, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈtʁɪŋkn̩].

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 32861, this pair ranks #1,698,441 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Betrieben vs betrinken

Shared letters: beinrt. Private to "Betrieben": -. Private to "betrinken": k.

"Betrieben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC  ·  "betrinken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Betriebenbbetrieben · bertieben · betireben · betribeen · betriebben · betriebenn · betriebne · betrieebn
  • betrinkenbbetrinken · bertinken · betirnken · betriknen · betrinekn · betrinkenn · betrinkken · betrinkne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Betrieben" for "betrinken" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Betrieben" is a noun and "betrinken" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Betrieben" vs "betrinken" - which ranks higher?
"Betrieben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,385 in our German list, against #30,476 for "betrinken". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Betrieben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "betrinken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,698,441 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Betrieben" and "betrinken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "betrinken vs Betrunkene". 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 #1,698,441 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