Which to use
“bejahen” and “bemühen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,800
- “bejahen” frequency rank
- #6,041
- “bemühen” frequency rank
- 51841
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bejahen | bemühen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | seine Zustimmung geben; ja sagen | sich Mühe geben, sich anstrengen |
Where the eye mixes bejahen and bemühen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between bejahen and bemühen
A purely visual mix-up. bejahen ([bəˈjaːən]) and bemühen ([bəˈmyːən]) 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 51841, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bejahen is recorded at frequency rank #45,800, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈjaːən]. bemühen is at rank #6,041, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈmyːən].
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 51841, this pair ranks #1,119,943 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bejahen vs bemühen
Shared letters: behn. Private to "bejahen": aj. Private to "bemühen": mü.
"bejahen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "bemühen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bejahen ← bbejahen · beajhen · bejaehn · bejahenn · bejahhen · bejahne · bejhaen · bejjahen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bejahen" for "bemühen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "bejahen" or "bemühen" show up more?
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 "bejahen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bemühen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,119,943 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bejahen" and "bemühen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bejahen vs bemalen". 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 #1,119,943 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.