Which to use
“berauben” and “betäuben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,473
- “berauben” frequency rank
- #46,525
- “betäuben” frequency rank
- 76998
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | berauben | betäuben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemandem etwas, gegebenenfalls auch unter Androhung von Gewalt, wegnehmen | (für bestimmte Zeit) gegen Empfindungen, insbesondere Schmerz, teilweise oder vollständig unempfindlich machen; taub machen |
Where the eye mixes berauben and betäuben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses berauben with betäuben
A purely visual mix-up. berauben ([bəˈʁaʊ̯bn̩]) and betäuben ([bəˈtɔɪ̯bn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76998, 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]. betäuben is at rank #46,525, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈtɔɪ̯bn̩].
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 76998, this pair ranks #270,901 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of berauben vs betäuben
Shared letters: benu. Private to "berauben": ar. Private to "betäuben": tä.
"berauben" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "betäuben" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- berauben ← bberauben · bearuben · berabuen · beraubben · beraubenn · beraubne · berauebn · berrauben
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "berauben" and "betäuben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "berauben" or "betäuben" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "berauben" and "betäuben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "berauben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "betäuben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #270,901 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "berauben" and "betäuben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "besaufen vs betäuben". 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 #270,901 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.