Which to use
“bemühen” and “beulen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,041
- “bemühen” frequency rank
- #43,061
- “beulen” frequency rank
- 49102
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bemühen | beulen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich Mühe geben, sich anstrengen | sich zu einer Beule entwickeln |
Where the eye mixes bemühen and beulen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. bemühen runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against beulen's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses bemühen with beulen
A purely visual mix-up. bemühen ([bəˈmyːən]) and beulen ([ˈbɔɪ̯lən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49102, 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]. beulen is at rank #43,061, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbɔɪ̯lən].
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 49102, this pair ranks #1,224,017 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bemühen vs beulen
Shared letters: ben. Private to "bemühen": hmü. Private to "beulen": lu.
"bemühen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "beulen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- beulen ← bbeulen · beluen · beueln · beulenn · beullen · beulne · buelen · ebulen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bemühen" for "beulen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "bemühen" or "beulen" 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 "beulen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,224,017 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bemühen" and "beulen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beulen vs Blusen". 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 #1,224,017 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.