beraubenvsberuhenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#30,473
“berauben” frequency rank
#10,430
“beruhen” frequency rank
40903
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature berauben beruhen
Definition jemandem etwas, gegebenenfalls auch unter Androhung von Gewalt, wegnehmen auf etwas fußen, sich auf etwas stützen, in etwas begründet sein

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set berauben and beruhen apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
berauben
7 ch
beruhen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. berauben ([bəˈʁaʊ̯bn̩]) and beruhen ([bəˈʁuːən]) 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 40903, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

berauben is recorded at frequency rank #30,473, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʁaʊ̯bn̩]. 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 40903, this pair ranks #1,494,996 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of berauben vs beruhen

Shared letters: benru. Private to "berauben": a. Private to "beruhen": h.

"berauben" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC  ·  "beruhen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beraubenbberauben · bearuben · berabuen · beraubben · beraubenn · beraubne · berauebn · berrauben
  • beruhenbberuhen · berhuen · berruhen · beruehn · beruhenn · beruhhen · beruhne · beurhen

Frequency comparison

berauben#30,473
beruhen#10,430

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "berauben" and "beruhen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʁaʊ̯bn̩] versus [bəˈʁuːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "berauben" or "beruhen"?
"beruhen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,430 in our German list, against #30,473 for "berauben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering berauben vs beruhen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “berauben” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list