verbannenvsverbrennenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#23,758
“verbannen” frequency rank
#7,413
“verbrennen” frequency rank
31171
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verbannen verbrennen
Definition jemanden mit einem Bann belegen, jemand eines Gebiets verweisen etwas durch Feuer vernichten

Where the eye mixes verbannen and verbrennen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verbannen runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against verbrennen's 10 (CVCCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
verbannen
10 ch
verbrennen

Look-alike desk: verbannen vs verbrennen

A purely visual mix-up. verbannen ([fɛɐ̯ˈbanən]) and verbrennen ([fɛɐ̯ˈbʁɛnən]) 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 31171, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verbannen is recorded at frequency rank #23,758, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbanən]. verbrennen is at rank #7,413, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbʁɛnən].

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 31171, this pair ranks #1,733,425 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verbannen vs verbrennen

Shared letters: benrv. Private to "verbannen": a. Private to "verbrennen": -.

"verbannen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "verbrennen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verbannen ← evrbannen · vebrannen · verabnnen · verbanen · verbanenn · verbannenn · verbannne · verbbannen
  • verbrennen ← evrbrennen · vebrrennen · verbbrennen · verbernnen · verbrenen · verbrenenn · verbrennenn · verbrennne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verbannen" and "verbrennen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈbanən] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈbʁɛnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "verbannen" or "verbrennen" show up more?
"verbrennen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,413 in our German list, against #23,758 for "verbannen". 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 "verbannen" and "verbrennen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verbannen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verbrennen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,733,425 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verbannen" and "verbrennen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verbannen vs verfangen". 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 #1,733,425 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