BeachtungvsBewachungTell them apart

Which to use

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

#8,026
“Beachtung” frequency rank
#31,964
“Bewachung” frequency rank
39990
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Beachtung Bewachung
Definition das Bemerken und die Aufmerksamkeit einer Sache oder Person gegenüber Handlung, jemand oder etwas unter Beaufsichtigung/Beobachtung zu halten

Where the eye mixes Beachtung and Bewachung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Beachtung (CVVCCCVCC) and Bewachung (CVCVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
Beachtung
9 ch
Bewachung

Visual trap between Beachtung and Bewachung

A purely visual mix-up. Beachtung ([bəˈʔaxtʊŋ]) and Bewachung ([bəˈvaxʊŋ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Beachtung is recorded at frequency rank #8,026, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈʔaxtʊŋ]. Bewachung is at rank #31,964, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈvaxʊŋ].

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 39990, this pair ranks #1,521,154 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Beachtung vs Bewachung

Shared letters: abceghnu. Private to "Beachtung": t. Private to "Bewachung": w.

"Beachtung" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCCVCC  ·  "Bewachung" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Beachtungbaechtung · bbeachtung · beacchtung · beachhtung · beachtnug · beachttung · beachtugn · beachtungg
  • Bewachungbbewachung · beawchung · bewacchung · bewachhung · bewachnug · bewachugn · bewachungg · bewachunng

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Beachtung" and "Bewachung" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʔaxtʊŋ] versus [bəˈvaxʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Beachtung" or "Bewachung" show up more?
"Beachtung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,026 in our German list, against #31,964 for "Bewachung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Beachtung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bewachung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,521,154 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Beachtung" and "Bewachung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bewachen vs Bewachung". 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 #1,521,154 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