bekehrenvsberührenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#31,459
“bekehren” frequency rank
#6,512
“berühren” frequency rank
37971
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bekehren berühren
Definition jemanden von seinen bisherigen Ansichten abbringen und von den eigenen überzeugen mit dem Äußeren seines Körpers mit einer Sache oder einer Person in Kontakt kommen

Where the eye mixes bekehren and berühren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. bekehren and berühren follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
bekehren
8 ch
berühren

Visual trap between bekehren and berühren

A purely visual mix-up. bekehren ([bəˈkeːʁən]) and berühren ([bəˈʁyːʁən]) 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 37971, 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]. berühren is at rank #6,512, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈʁyːʁən].

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 37971, this pair ranks #1,576,262 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bekehren vs berühren

Shared letters: behnr. Private to "bekehren": k. Private to "berühren": ü.

"bekehren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "berühren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bekehren ← bbekehren · beekhren · bekehern · bekehhren · bekehrenn · bekehrne · bekehrren · bekerhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bekehren" and "berühren" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈkeːʁən] versus [bəˈʁyːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bekehren" vs "berühren" - which ranks higher?
"berühren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,512 in our German list, against #31,459 for "bekehren". 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 "bekehren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "berühren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,576,262 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bekehren" and "berühren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bekehren vs Bekehrung". 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 #1,576,262 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