bergevsberufeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,562
“berge” frequency rank
#7,016
“berufe” frequency rank
10578
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature berge berufe
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs bergen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs berufen

Where the eye mixes berge and berufe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
berge
6 ch
berufe

Look-alike desk: berge vs berufe

A purely visual mix-up. berge ([ˈbɛʁɡə]) and berufe ([bəˈʁuːfə]) 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 10578, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

berge is recorded at frequency rank #3,562, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbɛʁɡə]. berufe is at rank #7,016, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈʁuːfə].

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 10578, this pair ranks #1,974,459 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of berge vs berufe

Shared letters: ber. Private to "berge": g. Private to "berufe": fu.

"berge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "berufe" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bergebberge · begre · bereg · bergge · berrge · brege · ebrge
  • berufebberufe · berfue · berrufe · beruef · beruffe · beurfe · breufe · ebrufe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "berge" and "berufe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbɛʁɡə] versus [bəˈʁuːfə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "berge" vs "berufe" - which ranks higher?
"berge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,562 in our German list, against #7,016 for "berufe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "berge" and "berufe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "berge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "berufe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,974,459 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "berge" and "berufe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "berge vs borgen". 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 #1,974,459 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