bemühtenvsberührtenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#31,958
“bemühten” frequency rank
#47,258
“berührten” frequency rank
79216
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bemühten berührten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs bemüht Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs berührt

Where the eye mixes bemühten and berührten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. bemühten runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against berührten's 9 (CVCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
bemühten
9 ch
berührten

Look-alike desk: bemühten vs berührten

A purely visual mix-up. bemühten ([bəˈmyːtn̩]) and berührten ([bəˈʁyːɐ̯tn̩]) 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 79216, 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]. berührten is at rank #47,258, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʁyːɐ̯tn̩].

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 79216, this pair ranks #221,329 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bemühten vs berührten

Shared letters: behntü. Private to "bemühten": m. Private to "berührten": r.

"bemühten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "berührten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bemühten" and "berührten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈmyːtn̩] versus [bəˈʁyːɐ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bemühten" or "berührten"?
"bemühten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,958 in our German list, against #47,258 for "berührten". 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 "bemühten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "berührten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #221,329 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bemühten" and "berührten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "berührend vs berührten". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #221,329 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