bemühtvsbeugtWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,770
“bemüht” frequency rank
#20,190
“beugt” frequency rank
24960
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bemüht beugt
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs bemühen 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs beugen

Where the eye mixes bemüht and beugt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. bemüht runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against beugt's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
bemüht
5 ch
beugt

Visual trap between bemüht and beugt

A purely visual mix-up. bemüht ([bəˈmyːt]) and beugt ([bɔɪ̯kt]) 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 24960, 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]. beugt is at rank #20,190, tagged as averb, pronounced [bɔɪ̯kt].

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 24960, this pair ranks #1,840,133 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bemüht vs beugt

Shared letters: bet. Private to "bemüht": hmü. Private to "beugt": gu.

"bemüht" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "beugt" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beugt ← bbeugt · begut · beuggt · beugtt · beutg · buegt · ebugt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bemüht" and "beugt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈmyːt] versus [bɔɪ̯kt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bemüht" or "beugt"?
"bemüht" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,770 in our German list, against #20,190 for "beugt". 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 "beugt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,840,133 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bemüht" and "beugt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bebt vs beugt". 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 #1,840,133 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