berührtvsberührteWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#4,329
“berührt” frequency rank
#19,848
“berührte” frequency rank
24177
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature berührt berührte
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs berühren Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs berührt

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
berührt
8 ch
berührte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: berührt is [bəˈʁyːɐ̯t] while berührte is [bəˈʁyːɐ̯tə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “berührt” sits inside “berührte”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24177, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

berührt is recorded at frequency rank #4,329, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʁyːɐ̯t]. 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 24177, this pair ranks #1,851,329 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of berührt vs berührte

Shared letters: behrtü. Private to "berührt": -. Private to "berührte": -.

"berührt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC  ·  "berührte" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV

Frequency comparison

berührt#4,329
berührte#19,848

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "berührt" and "berührte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "berührt" is a verb and "berührte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "berührt" or "berührte"?
"berührt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,329 in our German list, against #19,848 for "berührte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering berührt vs berührte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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