Which to use
“bedürfe” and “bedürfen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,684
- “bedürfe” frequency rank
- #15,571
- “bedürfen” frequency rank
- 57255
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bedürfe | bedürfen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Konjunktiv I Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bedürfen | etwas benötigen, etwas brauchen, auf etwas angewiesen sein |
Where the eye mixes bedürfe and bedürfen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. bedürfe runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against bedürfen's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between bedürfe and bedürfen
A purely visual mix-up. bedürfe ([bəˈdʏʁfə]) and bedürfen ([bəˈdʏʁfn̩]) 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 extra letter(s) - “bedürfe” sits inside “bedürfen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57255, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bedürfe is recorded at frequency rank #41,684, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈdʏʁfə]. bedürfen is at rank #15,571, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈdʏʁfn̩].
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 57255, this pair ranks #908,432 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bedürfe vs bedürfen
Shared letters: bdefrü. Private to "bedürfe": -. Private to "bedürfen": n.
"bedürfe" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "bedürfen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bedürfe" for "bedürfen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "bedürfe" or "bedürfen"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "bedürfe" and "bedürfen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bedürfe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bedürfen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #908,432 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bedürfe" and "bedürfen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bedaure vs bedürfe". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #908,432 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.