berührendvsberührtenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: berührend is a verb, berührten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#43,056
“berührend” frequency rank
#47,258
“berührten” frequency rank
90314
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature berührend berührten
Definition Partizip Präsens des Verbs berühren Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs berührt

Where the eye mixes berührend and berührten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. berührend (CVCVCCVCC) and berührten (CVCVCCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
berührend
9 ch
berührten

Look-alike desk: berührend vs berührten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: berührend is [bəˈʁyːʁənt] while berührten is [bəˈʁyːɐ̯tn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 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 90314, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

berührend is recorded at frequency rank #43,056, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʁyːʁənt]. berührten is at rank #47,258, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʁyːɐ̯tn̩].

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 90314, this pair ranks #48,201 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of berührend vs berührten

Shared letters: behnrü. Private to "berührend": d. Private to "berührten": t.

"berührend" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC  ·  "berührten" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "berührend" and "berührten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "berührend" is a verb and "berührten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "berührend" or "berührten"?
"berührend" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43,056 in our German list, against #47,258 for "berührten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "berührend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "berührten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #48,201 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "berührend" and "berührten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "berührend vs berührende". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #48,201 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