BelehrungvsBewährungWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#29,956
“Belehrung” frequency rank
#8,523
“Bewährung” frequency rank
38479
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Belehrung Bewährung
Definition Vermittlung von Kenntnissen; Zurechtweisung erfolgreiches Bestehen von Anforderungen

Where the eye mixes Belehrung and Bewährung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Belehrung and Bewährung follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
Belehrung
9 ch
Bewährung

Why the eye confuses Belehrung with Bewährung

A purely visual mix-up. Belehrung ([bəˈleːʁʊŋ]) and Bewährung ([bəˈvɛːʁʊŋ]) 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 38479, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Belehrung is recorded at frequency rank #29,956, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈleːʁʊŋ]. Bewährung is at rank #8,523, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈvɛːʁʊŋ].

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 38479, this pair ranks #1,562,885 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Belehrung vs Bewährung

Shared letters: beghnru. Private to "Belehrung": l. Private to "Bewährung": .

"Belehrung" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC  ·  "Bewährung" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Belehrungbbelehrung · beelhrung · belehhrung · belehrnug · belehrrung · belehrugn · belehrungg · belehrunng

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Belehrung" for "Bewährung" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈleːʁʊŋ] versus [bəˈvɛːʁʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Belehrung" vs "Bewährung" - which ranks higher?
"Bewährung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,523 in our German list, against #29,956 for "Belehrung". 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 "Belehrung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bewährung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,562,885 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Belehrung" and "Bewährung" 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 #1,562,885 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