VerbannungvsVerwarnungWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,113
“Verbannung” frequency rank
#30,850
“Verwarnung” frequency rank
57963
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Verbannung Verwarnung
Definition durch Urteil oder Dekret erzwungene Verlegung an einen von der betroffenen Person nicht gewünschten Ort Ermahnung oder Warnung, die eine Person für eine Regelverletzung oder ein Fehlverhalten erhält; oft beinhaltet eine Verwarnung die Androhung einer strengeren Strafe

Where the eye mixes Verbannung and Verwarnung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Verbannung and Verwarnung follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
Verbannung
10 ch
Verwarnung

Look-alike desk: Verbannung vs Verwarnung

A purely visual mix-up. Verbannung ([fɛɐ̯ˈbanʊŋ]) and Verwarnung ([fɛɐ̯ˈvaʁnʊŋ]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57963, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Verbannung is recorded at frequency rank #27,113, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbanʊŋ]. Verwarnung is at rank #30,850, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvaʁnʊŋ].

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 57963, this pair ranks #880,961 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Verbannung vs Verwarnung

Shared letters: aegnruv. Private to "Verbannung": b. Private to "Verwarnung": w.

"Verbannung" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC  ·  "Verwarnung" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Verbannung ← evrbannung · vebrannung · verabnnung · verbannnug · verbannugn · verbannungg · verbannunng · verbanung
  • Verwarnung ← evrwarnung · verawrnung · verrwarnung · verwanrung · verwarnnug · verwarnnung · verwarnugn · verwarnungg

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Verbannung" for "Verwarnung" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈbanʊŋ] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈvaʁnʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Verbannung" or "Verwarnung"?
"Verbannung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,113 in our German list, against #30,850 for "Verwarnung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Verbannung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Verwarnung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #880,961 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Verbannung" and "Verwarnung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Verbannung vs Verhängung". 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 #880,961 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