bewerbenvsbeworbenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,964
“bewerben” frequency rank
#9,337
“beworben” frequency rank
14301
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bewerben beworben
Definition sich (um etwas/jemanden) bemühen; (nach etwas) streben; versuchen, jemandes Gunst ( die Gunst einer Geliebten) zu erlangen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs bewerben

Where the eye mixes bewerben and beworben

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

8 ch
bewerben
8 ch
beworben

Why the eye confuses bewerben with beworben

A purely visual mix-up. bewerben ([bəˈvɛʁbn̩]) and beworben ([bəˈvɔʁbn̩]) 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 a single letter - e in “bewerben” becomes o in “beworben”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14301, 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]. beworben is at rank #9,337, tagged as averb, pronounced [bəˈvɔʁbn̩].

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 14301, this pair ranks #1,952,170 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bewerben vs beworben

Shared letters: benrw. Private to "bewerben": -. Private to "beworben": o.

"bewerben" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "beworben" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bewerbenbbewerben · beewrben · bewebren · bewerbben · bewerbenn · bewerbne · bewerebn · bewerrben
  • beworbenbbeworben · beowrben · bewobren · beworbben · beworbenn · beworbne · beworebn · beworrben

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bewerben" and "beworben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([bəˈvɛʁbn̩] versus [bəˈvɔʁbn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "bewerben" or "beworben" show up more?
"bewerben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,964 in our German list, against #9,337 for "beworben". 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 "bewerben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beworben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,952,170 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bewerben" and "beworben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bewerfen vs beworben". 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 #1,952,170 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