BetrügervsbetrügtTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#10,054
“Betrüger” frequency rank
#26,780
“betrügt” frequency rank
36834
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Betrüger betrügt
Definition Person, die andere täuscht, um sich einen Vorteil zu verschaffen; jemand, der betrügt 2. Person Plural Konjunktiv II Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs betragen

Where the eye mixes Betrüger and betrügt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Betrüger runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against betrügt's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
Betrüger
7 ch
betrügt

Visual trap between Betrüger and betrügt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Betrüger is [bəˈtʁyːɡɐ] while betrügt is [bəˈtʁyːkt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36834, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Betrüger is recorded at frequency rank #10,054, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈtʁyːɡɐ]. betrügt is at rank #26,780, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈtʁyːkt].

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 36834, this pair ranks #1,605,533 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Betrüger vs betrügt

Shared letters: begrtü. Private to "Betrüger": -. Private to "betrügt": -.

"Betrüger" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "betrügt" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Betrüger" for "betrügt" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Betrüger" is a noun and "betrügt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "Betrüger" or "betrügt" show up more?
"Betrüger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,054 in our German list, against #26,780 for "betrügt". 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 "Betrüger" and "betrügt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Betrüger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "betrügt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,605,533 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Betrüger" and "betrügt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beitrug vs betrügt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,605,533 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