Which to use
“verarschen” and “verursachen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,651
- “verarschen” frequency rank
- #6,253
- “verursachen” frequency rank
- 15904
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verarschen | verursachen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemandem zu seinem eigenen Vorteil beziehungsweise zur allgemeinen Belustigung eine Unwahrheit erzählen, sich über jemanden lustig machen | etwas auslösen, der Grund für etwas sein, den Ursprung für etwas bilden, für etwas verantwortlich sein |
Where the eye mixes verarschen and verursachen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. verarschen runs 10 letters (CVCVCCCCVC) against verursachen's 11 (CVCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses verarschen with verursachen
A purely visual mix-up. verarschen ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔaʁʃn̩]) and verursachen ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔuːɐ̯ˌzaxn̩]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15904, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verarschen is recorded at frequency rank #9,651, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔaʁʃn̩]. verursachen is at rank #6,253, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔuːɐ̯ˌzaxn̩].
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 15904, this pair ranks #1,940,206 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verarschen vs verursachen
Shared letters: acehnrsv. Private to "verarschen": -. Private to "verursachen": u.
"verarschen" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCCVC · "verursachen" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verarschen ← evrarschen · vearrschen · verarcshen · verarrschen · verarscchen · verarscehn · verarschenn · verarschhen
- verursachen ← evrursachen · verrursachen · verrusachen · veruraschen · verurrsachen · verursacchen · verursacehn · verursachenn
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verarschen" and "verursachen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "verarschen" or "verursachen" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verarschen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verursachen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,940,206 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verarschen" and "verursachen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verarsche vs verarschen". 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 #1,940,206 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.