Which to use
“berühren” is a verb and “berührte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,512
- “berühren” frequency rank
- #19,848
- “berührte” frequency rank
- 26360
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | berühren | berührte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mit dem Äußeren seines Körpers mit einer Sache oder einer Person in Kontakt kommen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs berührt |
Where the eye mixes berühren and berührte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. berühren (CVCVCCVC) and berührte (CVCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between berühren and berührte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: berühren is [bəˈʁyːʁən] while berührte is [bəˈʁyːɐ̯tə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26360, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
berühren is recorded at frequency rank #6,512, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʁyːʁən]. berührte is at rank #19,848, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʁyːɐ̯tə].
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 26360, this pair ranks #1,819,361 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of berühren vs berührte
Shared letters: behrü. Private to "berühren": n. Private to "berührte": t.
"berühren" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "berührte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "berühren" and "berührte" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "berühren" or "berührte" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "berühren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "berührte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,819,361 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "berühren" and "berührte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "berührte vs berührten". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,819,361 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.