BeförderungvsBeförderungenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#9,154
“Beförderung” frequency rank
#39,232
“Beförderungen” frequency rank
48386
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Beförderung Beförderungen
Definition das Befördern oder das Transportieren von Gütern oder Personen Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Beförderung

Where the eye mixes Beförderung and Beförderungen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. Beförderung runs 11 letters (CVCVCCVCVCC) against Beförderungen's 13 (CVCVCCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
Beförderung
13 ch
Beförderungen

Visual trap between Beförderung and Beförderungen

A purely visual mix-up. Beförderung ([bəˈfœʁdəʁʊŋ]) and Beförderungen ([bəˈfœʁdəʁʊŋən]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “Beförderung” sits inside “Beförderungen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48386, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Beförderung is recorded at frequency rank #9,154, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈfœʁdəʁʊŋ]. Beförderungen is at rank #39,232, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈfœʁdəʁʊŋən].

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 48386, this pair ranks #1,250,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Beförderung vs Beförderungen

Shared letters: bdefgnruö. Private to "Beförderung": -. Private to "Beförderungen": -.

"Beförderung" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVCC  ·  "Beförderungen" · 13 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Beförderung" and "Beförderungen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈfœʁdəʁʊŋ] versus [bəˈfœʁdəʁʊŋən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Beförderung" vs "Beförderungen" - which ranks higher?
"Beförderung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,154 in our German list, against #39,232 for "Beförderungen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Beförderung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Beförderungen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,250,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Beförderung" and "Beförderungen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "befördern vs Beförderung". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,250,420 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