Which to use
“betrinken” is a verb and “betrunken” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,476
- “betrinken” frequency rank
- #5,807
- “betrunken” frequency rank
- 36283
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | betrinken | betrunken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | größere Mengen von Alkohol zu sich nehmen und sich dadurch berauschen | von Alkohol berauscht |
Where the eye mixes betrinken and betrunken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. betrinken and betrunken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses betrinken with betrunken
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: betrinken is [bəˈtʁɪŋkn̩] while betrunken is [bəˈtʁʊŋkn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “betrinken” becomes u in “betrunken”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36283, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
betrinken is recorded at frequency rank #30,476, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈtʁɪŋkn̩]. betrunken is at rank #5,807, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈtʁʊŋkn̩].
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 36283, this pair ranks #1,619,473 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of betrinken vs betrunken
Shared letters: beknrt. Private to "betrinken": i. Private to "betrunken": u.
"betrinken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "betrunken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "betrinken" for "betrunken" ever safe?
Which is more common, "betrinken" or "betrunken"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "betrinken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "betrunken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,619,473 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "betrinken" and "betrunken" 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 #1,619,473 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.