berühmtenvsberührenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#4,771
“berühmten” frequency rank
#6,512
“berühren” frequency rank
11283
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature berühmten berühren
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Adjektivs berühmt mit dem Äußeren seines Körpers mit einer Sache oder einer Person in Kontakt kommen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set berühmten and berühren apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
berühmten
8 ch
berühren

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: berühmten is [bəˈʁyːmtn̩] while berühren is [bəˈʁyːʁən]. 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 11283, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

berühmten is recorded at frequency rank #4,771, classified as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʁyːmtn̩]. berühren is at rank #6,512, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈʁyːʁən].

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 11283, this pair ranks #1,970,693 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of berühmten vs berühren

Shared letters: behnrü. Private to "berühmten": mt. Private to "berühren": -.

"berühmten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC  ·  "berühren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Frequency comparison

berühmten#4,771
berühren#6,512

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "berühmten" and "berühren" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "berühmten" is an adjective and "berühren" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "berühmten" or "berühren"?
"berühmten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,771 in our German list, against #6,512 for "berühren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering berühmten vs berühren

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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