bewerbenvsbewirkenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,964
“bewerben” frequency rank
#7,731
“bewirken” frequency rank
12695
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bewerben bewirken
Definition sich (um etwas/jemanden) bemühen; (nach etwas) streben; versuchen, jemandes Gunst ( die Gunst einer Geliebten) zu erlangen eine Wirkung herbeiführen

Where the eye mixes bewerben and bewirken

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
bewerben
8 ch
bewirken

Visual trap between bewerben and bewirken

A purely visual mix-up. bewerben ([bəˈvɛʁbn̩]) and bewirken ([bəˈvɪʁkn̩]) 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 12695, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bewerben is recorded at frequency rank #4,964, classified as averb, pronounced [bəˈvɛʁbn̩]. bewirken is at rank #7,731, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈvɪʁkn̩].

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 12695, this pair ranks #1,962,616 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bewerben vs bewirken

Shared letters: benrw. Private to "bewerben": -. Private to "bewirken": ik.

"bewerben" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "bewirken" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bewerbenbbewerben · beewrben · bewebren · bewerbben · bewerbenn · bewerbne · bewerebn · bewerrben
  • bewirkenbbewirken · beiwrken · bewikren · bewirekn · bewirkenn · bewirkken · bewirkne · bewirrken

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bewerben" and "bewirken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈvɛʁbn̩] versus [bəˈvɪʁkn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bewerben" vs "bewirken" - which ranks higher?
"bewerben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,964 in our German list, against #7,731 for "bewirken". 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 "bewerben" and "bewirken" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bewerben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bewirken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,962,616 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bewerben" and "bewirken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Bewerb vs bewerben". 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 #1,962,616 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