bedeutenvsbewertenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,487
“bedeuten” frequency rank
#5,461
“bewerten” frequency rank
7948
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bedeuten bewerten
Definition etwas heißen, etwas bezeichnen den Wert oder die Qualität von etwas abschätzen, bestimmen oder festlegen

Where the eye mixes bedeuten and bewerten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
bedeuten
8 ch
bewerten

Look-alike desk: bedeuten vs bewerten

A purely visual mix-up. bedeuten ([bəˈdɔɪ̯tn̩]) and bewerten ([bəˈveːɐ̯tn̩]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7948, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bedeuten is recorded at frequency rank #2,487, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈdɔɪ̯tn̩]. bewerten is at rank #5,461, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈveːɐ̯tn̩].

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 7948, this pair ranks #1,986,219 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bedeuten vs bewerten

Shared letters: bent. Private to "bedeuten": du. Private to "bewerten": rw.

"bedeuten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC  ·  "bewerten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bedeutenbbedeuten · bdeeuten · beddeuten · bedetuen · bedeuetn · bedeutenn · bedeutne · bedeutten
  • bewertenbbewerten · beewrten · beweretn · bewerrten · bewertenn · bewertne · bewertten · bewetren

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bedeuten" for "bewerten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈdɔɪ̯tn̩] versus [bəˈveːɐ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bedeuten" or "bewerten"?
"bedeuten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,487 in our German list, against #5,461 for "bewerten". 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 "bedeuten" and "bewerten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bedeuten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bewerten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,986,219 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bedeuten" and "bewerten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bedeuten vs bedeutest". 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 #1,986,219 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