bekehrenvsBekehrungConfusable pair

Quick tell: bekehren is a verb, Bekehrung is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bekehren” is a verb and “Bekehrung” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,459
“bekehren” frequency rank
#47,252
“Bekehrung” frequency rank
78711
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bekehren Bekehrung
Definition jemanden von seinen bisherigen Ansichten abbringen und von den eigenen überzeugen Aktivität, die jemanden dazu bringt, seinen Glauben/seine Überzeugung zu wechseln

Where the eye mixes bekehren and Bekehrung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. bekehren runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against Bekehrung's 9 (CVCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
bekehren
9 ch
Bekehrung

Look-alike desk: bekehren vs Bekehrung

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bekehren is [bəˈkeːʁən] while Bekehrung is [bəˈkeːʁʊŋ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78711, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bekehren is recorded at frequency rank #31,459, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈkeːʁən]. Bekehrung is at rank #47,252, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈkeːʁʊŋ].

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 78711, this pair ranks #232,234 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bekehren vs Bekehrung

Shared letters: behknr. Private to "bekehren": -. Private to "Bekehrung": gu.

"bekehren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "Bekehrung" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bekehren ← bbekehren · beekhren · bekehern · bekehhren · bekehrenn · bekehrne · bekehrren · bekerhen
  • Bekehrung ← bbekehrung · beekhrung · bekehhrung · bekehrnug · bekehrrung · bekehrugn · bekehrungg · bekehrunng

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bekehren" and "Bekehrung" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bekehren" is a verb and "Bekehrung" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "bekehren" or "Bekehrung" show up more?
"bekehren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,459 in our German list, against #47,252 for "Bekehrung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bekehren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bekehrung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #232,234 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bekehren" and "Bekehrung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bekehrung vs Belehrung". 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 #232,234 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