Which to use
“bereuen” is a verb and “berufen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,320
- “bereuen” frequency rank
- #3,563
- “berufen” frequency rank
- 16883
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bereuen | berufen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Reue über etwas empfinden | besonders/mehr als andere fähig/geeignet für Aufgabe oder Amt |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bereuen and berufen apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
bereuen and berufen form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16883, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bereuen is recorded at frequency rank #13,320, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʁɔɪ̯ən]. berufen is at rank #3,563, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʁuːfn̩].
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 16883, this pair ranks #1,932,208 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bereuen" and "berufen" be used interchangeably?
Remembering bereuen vs berufen
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “bereuen”; for an adjective, it's “berufen”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “bereuen” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable