beunruhigenvsbeunruhigendWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#30,956
“beunruhigen” frequency rank
#27,651
“beunruhigend” frequency rank
58607
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beunruhigen beunruhigend
Definition in Unruhe versetzen Unruhe verursachend

Where the eye mixes beunruhigen and beunruhigend

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. beunruhigen runs 11 letters (CVVCCVCVCVC) against beunruhigend's 12 (CVVCCVCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
beunruhigen
12 ch
beunruhigend

Why the eye confuses beunruhigen with beunruhigend

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: beunruhigen is [bəˈʔʊnˌʁuːɪɡn̩] while beunruhigend is [bəˈʔʊnˌʁuːɪɡn̩t]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “beunruhigen” sits inside “beunruhigend”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58607, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beunruhigen is recorded at frequency rank #30,956, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈʔʊnˌʁuːɪɡn̩]. beunruhigend is at rank #27,651, tagged as anadj, pronounced [bəˈʔʊnˌʁuːɪɡn̩t].

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 58607, this pair ranks #856,271 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of beunruhigen vs beunruhigend

Shared letters: beghinru. Private to "beunruhigen": -. Private to "beunruhigend": d.

"beunruhigen" · 11 letters · shape CVVCCVCVCVC  ·  "beunruhigend" · 12 letters · shape CVVCCVCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beunruhigenbbeunruhigen · benuruhigen · beunnruhigen · beunrhuigen · beunrruhigen · beunruhgien · beunruhhigen · beunruhiegn
  • beunruhigendbbeunruhigend · benuruhigend · beunnruhigend · beunrhuigend · beunrruhigend · beunruhgiend · beunruhhigend · beunruhiegnd

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "beunruhigen" for "beunruhigend" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "beunruhigen" is a verb and "beunruhigend" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "beunruhigen" vs "beunruhigend" - which ranks higher?
"beunruhigend" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,651 in our German list, against #30,956 for "beunruhigen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "beunruhigen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beunruhigend" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #856,271 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beunruhigen" and "beunruhigend" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beunruhigen vs beunruhigt". 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 #856,271 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