beugenvsbezeugenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,523
“beugen” frequency rank
#20,865
“bezeugen” frequency rank
35388
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beugen bezeugen
Definition biegen, krümmen etwas bestätigen, als jemand, der die Umstände kennt (Zeuge ist)

Where the eye mixes beugen and bezeugen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. beugen runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against bezeugen's 8 (CVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
beugen
8 ch
bezeugen

Why the eye confuses beugen with bezeugen

A purely visual mix-up. beugen ([ˈbɔɪ̯ɡn̩]) and bezeugen ([bəˈt͡sɔɪ̯ɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35388, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beugen is recorded at frequency rank #14,523, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbɔɪ̯ɡn̩]. bezeugen is at rank #20,865, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈt͡sɔɪ̯ɡn̩].

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 35388, this pair ranks #1,641,189 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beugen vs bezeugen

Shared letters: begnu. Private to "beugen": -. Private to "bezeugen": z.

"beugen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "bezeugen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beugen ← bbeugen · beguen · beuegn · beugenn · beuggen · beugne · buegen · ebugen
  • bezeugen ← bbezeugen · beezugen · bezeguen · bezeuegn · bezeugenn · bezeuggen · bezeugne · bezuegen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "beugen" for "bezeugen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbɔɪ̯ɡn̩] versus [bəˈt͡sɔɪ̯ɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "beugen" or "bezeugen"?
"beugen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,523 in our German list, against #20,865 for "bezeugen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "beugen" and "bezeugen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "beugen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bezeugen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,641,189 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beugen" and "bezeugen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beugen vs Blusen". 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 #1,641,189 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