Befurchten vs furchten in German

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Both refer to fear, but the correct spellings are befürchten and fürchten.

befürchten = to fear/suspect that something bad may happen. It often introduces a clause: Ich befürchte, dass es regnen wird.
fürchten = to fear/be afraid of someone or something more directly: Ich fürchte Hunde.

befürchten is often more like “I’m afraid that…” or “I suspect unfortunately…”, while fürchten is more like “to be afraid of.”