BerührungvsBewährungWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,513
“Berührung” frequency rank
#8,523
“Bewährung” frequency rank
18036
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Berührung Bewährung
Definition Ereignis, wenn mehrere Dinge aneinandergeraten (auch abstrakt) erfolgreiches Bestehen von Anforderungen

Where the eye mixes Berührung and Bewährung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Berührung and Bewährung follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
Berührung
9 ch
Bewährung

Look-alike desk: Berührung vs Bewährung

A purely visual mix-up. Berührung ([bəˈʁyːʁʊŋ]) and Bewährung ([bəˈvɛːʁʊŋ]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18036, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Berührung is recorded at frequency rank #9,513, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈʁyːʁʊŋ]. Bewährung is at rank #8,523, tagged as anoun, pronounced [bəˈvɛːʁʊŋ].

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 18036, this pair ranks #1,922,021 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Berührung vs Bewährung

Shared letters: beghnru. Private to "Berührung": ü. Private to "Bewährung": wä.

"Berührung" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC  ·  "Bewährung" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Berührung" and "Bewährung" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈʁyːʁʊŋ] versus [bəˈvɛːʁʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Berührung" vs "Bewährung" - which ranks higher?
"Bewährung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,523 in our German list, against #9,513 for "Berührung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Berührung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Bewährung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,922,021 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Berührung" and "Bewährung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bekehrung vs Berührung". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,922,021 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