Which to use
“bemühen” is a verb and “bemühten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,041
- “bemühen” frequency rank
- #31,958
- “bemühten” frequency rank
- 37999
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bemühen | bemühten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich Mühe geben, sich anstrengen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs bemüht |
Where the eye mixes bemühen and bemühten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. bemühen runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against bemühten's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses bemühen with bemühten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bemühen is [bəˈmyːən] while bemühten is [bəˈmyːtn̩]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37999, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bemühen is recorded at frequency rank #6,041, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈmyːən]. bemühten is at rank #31,958, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈmyːtn̩].
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 37999, this pair ranks #1,575,539 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bemühen vs bemühten
Shared letters: behmnü. Private to "bemühen": -. Private to "bemühten": t.
"bemühen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "bemühten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bemühen" for "bemühten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "bemühen" or "bemühten" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bemühen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bemühten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,575,539 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bemühen" and "bemühten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bemühten vs berührten". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,575,539 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.