Which to use
“bedurfte” is a verb and “bedürftige” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,460
- “bedurfte” frequency rank
- #25,911
- “bedürftige” frequency rank
- 59371
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bedurfte | bedürftige |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs bedürfen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs bedürftig |
Where the eye mixes bedurfte and bedürftige
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. bedurfte runs 8 letters (CVCVCCCV) against bedürftige's 10 (CVCVCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between bedurfte and bedürftige
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bedurfte is [bəˈdʊʁftə] while bedürftige is [bəˈdʏʁftɪɡə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59371, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bedurfte is recorded at frequency rank #33,460, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈdʊʁftə]. bedürftige is at rank #25,911, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈdʏʁftɪɡə].
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 59371, this pair ranks #827,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bedurfte vs bedürftige
Shared letters: bdefrt. Private to "bedurfte": u. Private to "bedürftige": giü.
"bedurfte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV · "bedürftige" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- bedurfte ← bbedurfte · bdeurfte · beddurfte · bedrufte · bedufrte · bedurfet · bedurffte · bedurftte
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bedurfte" and "bedürftige" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "bedurfte" or "bedürftige"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bedurfte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bedürftige" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #827,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bedurfte" and "bedürftige" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bedürfe vs bedurfte". 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 #827,027 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.