bemühtvsberührtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,770
“bemüht” frequency rank
#4,329
“berührt” frequency rank
9099
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bemüht berührt
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs bemühen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs berühren

Where the eye mixes bemüht and berührt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
bemüht
7 ch
berührt

Visual trap between bemüht and berührt

A purely visual mix-up. bemüht ([bəˈmyːt]) and berührt ([bəˈʁyːɐ̯t]) 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 9099, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bemüht is recorded at frequency rank #4,770, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈmyːt]. berührt is at rank #4,329, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈʁyːɐ̯t].

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 9099, this pair ranks #1,981,476 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bemüht vs berührt

Shared letters: behtü. Private to "bemüht": m. Private to "berührt": r.

"bemüht" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "berührt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bemüht" and "berührt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈmyːt] versus [bəˈʁyːɐ̯t]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bemüht" or "berührt"?
"berührt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,329 in our German list, against #4,770 for "bemüht". 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 "bemüht" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "berührt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,981,476 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bemüht" and "berührt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "berührt vs berührten". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,981,476 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