bettevsbittenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“bette” and “bitten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#24,645
“bette” frequency rank
#2,536
“bitten” frequency rank
27181
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bette bitten
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs betten jemanden in höflicher Form nach etwas fragen, sich in höflicher Form an jemanden wenden, jemanden um etwas ersuchen, einen Wunsch ausdrücken

Where the eye mixes bette and bitten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
bette
6 ch
bitten

Look-alike desk: bette vs bitten

A purely visual mix-up. bette ([ˈbɛtə]) and bitten ([ˈbɪtn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27181, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bette is recorded at frequency rank #24,645, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbɛtə]. bitten is at rank #2,536, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbɪtn̩].

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 27181, this pair ranks #1,805,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bette vs bitten

Shared letters: bet. Private to "bette": -. Private to "bitten": in.

"bette" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "bitten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bettebbette · bete · btete · ebtte
  • bittenbbitten · biten · bitetn · bittenn · bittne · btiten · ibtten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bette" for "bitten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbɛtə] versus [ˈbɪtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bette" or "bitten"?
"bitten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,536 in our German list, against #24,645 for "bette". 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 "bette" and "bitten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bette" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bitten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,805,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bette" and "bitten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "betrete vs bette". 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 #1,805,974 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