berührtvsberuhteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,329
“berührt” frequency rank
#28,096
“beruhte” frequency rank
32425
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature berührt beruhte
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs berühren 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs beruhen

Where the eye mixes berührt and beruhte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. berührt (CVCVCCC) and beruhte (CVCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
berührt
7 ch
beruhte

Why the eye confuses berührt with beruhte

A purely visual mix-up. berührt ([bəˈʁyːɐ̯t]) and beruhte ([bəˈʁuːtə]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32425, 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]. beruhte is at rank #28,096, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈʁuːtə].

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 32425, this pair ranks #1,707,844 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of berührt vs beruhte

Shared letters: behrt. Private to "berührt": ü. Private to "beruhte": u.

"berührt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC  ·  "beruhte" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beruhte ← bberuhte · berhute · berruhte · beruhet · beruhhte · beruhtte · beruthe · beurhte

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "berührt" and "beruhte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʁyːɐ̯t] versus [bəˈʁuːtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "berührt" or "beruhte"?
"berührt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,329 in our German list, against #28,096 for "beruhte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "berührt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beruhte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,707,844 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "berührt" and "beruhte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "berührten vs beruhte". 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 #1,707,844 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