Which to use
“bereuen” and “betreuen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,320
- “bereuen” frequency rank
- #12,678
- “betreuen” frequency rank
- 25998
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bereuen | betreuen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Reue über etwas empfinden | jemanden versorgen, beaufsichtigen und sich um dessen Belange kümmern, da diese Person dies selbst nicht (mehr) kann |
Where the eye mixes bereuen and betreuen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. bereuen runs 7 letters (CVCVVVC) against betreuen's 8 (CVCCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: bereuen vs betreuen
A purely visual mix-up. bereuen ([bəˈʁɔɪ̯ən]) and betreuen ([bəˈtʁɔɪ̯ən]) 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 25998, 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]. betreuen is at rank #12,678, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈtʁɔɪ̯ən].
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 25998, this pair ranks #1,824,780 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bereuen vs betreuen
Shared letters: benru. Private to "bereuen": -. Private to "betreuen": t.
"bereuen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC · "betreuen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bereuen" for "betreuen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "bereuen" or "betreuen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "bereuen" and "betreuen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bereuen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "betreuen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,824,780 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bereuen" and "betreuen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "betrete vs betreuen". 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 #1,824,780 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.