verantwortlichvsVerantwortlicheWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: verantwortlich is a adjective, Verantwortliche is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“verantwortlich” is an adjective and “Verantwortliche” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,438
“verantwortlich” frequency rank
#12,406
“Verantwortliche” frequency rank
13844
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verantwortlich Verantwortliche
Definition eine Verantwortung für etwas habend, für etwas zuständig seiend weibliche Person, die für etwas die Verantwortung trägt

Where the eye mixes verantwortlich and Verantwortliche

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 14 letters in sequence. verantwortlich runs 14 letters (CVCVCCCVCCCVCC) against Verantwortliche's 15 (CVCVCCCVCCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

14 ch
verantwortlich
15 ch
Verantwortliche

Why the eye confuses verantwortlich with Verantwortliche

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verantwortlich is [fɛɐ̯ˈʔantvɔʁtlɪç] while Verantwortliche is [fɛɐ̯ˈʔantvɔʁtlɪçə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “verantwortlich” sits inside “Verantwortliche”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13844, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verantwortlich is recorded at frequency rank #1,438, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔantvɔʁtlɪç]. Verantwortliche is at rank #12,406, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔantvɔʁtlɪçə].

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 13844, this pair ranks #1,955,303 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verantwortlich vs Verantwortliche

Shared letters: acehilnortvw. Private to "verantwortlich": -. Private to "Verantwortliche": -.

"verantwortlich" · 14 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCCCVCC  ·  "Verantwortliche" · 15 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verantwortlichevrantwortlich · vearntwortlich · veranntwortlich · verantowrtlich · veranttwortlich · verantworltich · verantworrtlich · verantwortilch
  • Verantwortlicheevrantwortliche · vearntwortliche · veranntwortliche · verantowrtliche · veranttwortliche · verantworltiche · verantworrtliche · verantwortilche

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verantwortlich" for "Verantwortliche" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verantwortlich" is an adjective and "Verantwortliche" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "verantwortlich" vs "Verantwortliche" - which ranks higher?
"verantwortlich" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,438 in our German list, against #12,406 for "Verantwortliche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verantwortlich" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Verantwortliche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,955,303 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verantwortlich" and "Verantwortliche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Verantwortliche vs Verantwortlicher". 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 #1,955,303 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