BewachungvsBewährungWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,964
“Bewachung” frequency rank
#8,523
“Bewährung” frequency rank
40487
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Bewachung Bewährung
Definition Handlung, jemand oder etwas unter Beaufsichtigung/Beobachtung zu halten erfolgreiches Bestehen von Anforderungen

Where the eye mixes Bewachung and Bewährung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. Bewachung 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
Bewachung
9 ch
Bewährung

Visual trap between Bewachung and Bewährung

A purely visual mix-up. Bewachung ([bəˈvaxʊŋ]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40487, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Bewachung is recorded at frequency rank #31,964, classified as anoun, pronounced [bəˈvaxʊŋ]. 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 40487, this pair ranks #1,507,031 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Bewachung vs Bewährung

Shared letters: beghnuw. Private to "Bewachung": ac. Private to "Bewährung": .

"Bewachung" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC  ·  "Bewährung" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Bewachungbbewachung · beawchung · bewacchung · bewachhung · bewachnug · bewachugn · bewachungg · bewachunng

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Bewachung" and "Bewährung" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈvaxʊŋ] versus [bəˈvɛːʁʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Bewachung" 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 #31,964 for "Bewachung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Bewachung" 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 #1,507,031 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Bewachung" and "Bewährung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bewachen vs Bewachung". 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 #1,507,031 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