berufenvsbeulenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: berufen is a adjective, beulen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“berufen” is an adjective and “beulen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,563
“berufen” frequency rank
#43,061
“beulen” frequency rank
46624
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature berufen beulen
Definition besonders/mehr als andere fähig/geeignet für Aufgabe oder Amt sich zu einer Beule entwickeln

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set berufen and beulen apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
berufen
6 ch
beulen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: berufen is [bəˈʁuːfn̩] while beulen is [ˈbɔɪ̯lən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46624, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

berufen is recorded at frequency rank #3,563, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʁuːfn̩]. beulen is at rank #43,061, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbɔɪ̯lən].

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 46624, this pair ranks #1,312,724 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of berufen vs beulen

Shared letters: benu. Private to "berufen": fr. Private to "beulen": l.

"berufen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "beulen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • berufenbberufen · berfuen · berrufen · beruefn · berufenn · beruffen · berufne · beurfen
  • beulenbbeulen · beluen · beueln · beulenn · beullen · beulne · buelen · ebulen

Frequency comparison

berufen#3,563
beulen#43,061

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "berufen" and "beulen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "berufen" is an adjective and "beulen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "berufen" or "beulen"?
"berufen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,563 in our German list, against #43,061 for "beulen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering berufen vs beulen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “berufen”; for a verb, it's “beulen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “berufen” 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