Which to use
“verankern” and “verdanken” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,541
- “verankern” frequency rank
- #6,117
- “verdanken” frequency rank
- 33658
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verankern | verdanken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Schiff, ein Floß oder Ähnliches mit einem Anker an seinem Platz festmachen | jemandem wegen etwas zu Dank verpflichtet sein |
Where the eye mixes verankern and verdanken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verankern (CVCVCCVCC) and verdanken (CVCCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between verankern and verdanken
A purely visual mix-up. verankern ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔaŋkɐn]) and verdanken ([fɛɐ̯ˈdaŋkn̩]) 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 5 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33658, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verankern is recorded at frequency rank #27,541, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔaŋkɐn]. verdanken is at rank #6,117, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdaŋkn̩].
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 33658, this pair ranks #1,680,920 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verankern vs verdanken
Shared letters: aeknrv. Private to "verankern": -. Private to "verdanken": d.
"verankern" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC · "verdanken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verankern" and "verdanken" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "verankern" or "verdanken" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verankern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verdanken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,680,920 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verankern" and "verdanken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verankern vs verankerten". 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 #1,680,920 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.