beruhenvsberuhigWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,430
“beruhen” frequency rank
#43,760
“beruhig” frequency rank
54190
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beruhen beruhig
Definition auf etwas fußen, sich auf etwas stützen, in etwas begründet sein 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs beruhigen

Where the eye mixes beruhen and beruhig

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. beruhen and beruhig follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
beruhen
7 ch
beruhig

Look-alike desk: beruhen vs beruhig

A purely visual mix-up. beruhen ([bəˈʁuːən]) and beruhig ([bəˈʁuːɪç]) 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 54190, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beruhen is recorded at frequency rank #10,430, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʁuːən]. beruhig is at rank #43,760, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈʁuːɪç].

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 54190, this pair ranks #1,028,624 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of beruhen vs beruhig

Shared letters: behru. Private to "beruhen": n. Private to "beruhig": gi.

"beruhen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "beruhig" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beruhenbberuhen · berhuen · berruhen · beruehn · beruhenn · beruhhen · beruhne · beurhen
  • beruhigbberuhig · berhuig · berruhig · beruhgi · beruhhig · beruhigg · beruihg · beurhig

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "beruhen" and "beruhig" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʁuːən] versus [bəˈʁuːɪç]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "beruhen" or "beruhig"?
"beruhen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,430 in our German list, against #43,760 for "beruhig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "beruhen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beruhig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,028,624 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beruhen" and "beruhig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beruhig vs brüchig". 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 #1,028,624 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