Which to use
“bemühten” is an adjective and “beruhen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,958
- “bemühten” frequency rank
- #10,430
- “beruhen” frequency rank
- 42388
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bemühten | beruhen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs bemüht | auf etwas fußen, sich auf etwas stützen, in etwas begründet sein |
Where the eye mixes bemühten and beruhen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. bemühten runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against beruhen's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses bemühten with beruhen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bemühten is [bəˈmyːtn̩] while beruhen is [bəˈʁuːən]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42388, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bemühten is recorded at frequency rank #31,958, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈmyːtn̩]. beruhen is at rank #10,430, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈʁuːən].
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 42388, this pair ranks #1,450,943 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bemühten vs beruhen
Shared letters: behn. Private to "bemühten": mtü. Private to "beruhen": ru.
"bemühten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "beruhen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- beruhen ← bberuhen · berhuen · berruhen · beruehn · beruhenn · beruhhen · beruhne · beurhen
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bemühten" and "beruhen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "bemühten" or "beruhen" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bemühten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "beruhen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,450,943 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bemühten" and "beruhen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bemühten vs berührten". 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 #1,450,943 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.