befürchten

\bəˈfʏʁçtn̩\

/\bəˈfʏʁçtn̩\/ verb

The verdict

“befürchten” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Craindre.

Corpus desk

Index FR-befurchten · befürchten · French

befürchten · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "B" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for befürchten
PropertyValue
Headwordbefürchten
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\bəˈfʏʁçtn̩\
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « befürchten » en français

befürchtensiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

befürchten is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \bəˈfʏʁçtn̩\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Craindre.".

Zero misspellings are on record for befürchten in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is befürchten, spelled B-E-F-Ü-R-C-H-T-E-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Craindre.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how befürchten appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Ich befürchte, dass es morgen stark regnen wird.
  2. Es tut mir leid, aber ich befürchte, die englische Küche schmeckt mir nicht.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "befürchten"?
"befürchten" is spelled B-E-F-Ü-R-C-H-T-E-N. The IPA pronunciation is \bəˈfʏʁçtn̩\.
What does "befürchten" mean?
As a verb, "befürchten" means: Craindre.
How do you pronounce "befürchten"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "befürchten" is \bəˈfʏʁçtn̩\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "befürchten" come from?
"befürchten" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list