verbauenvsverlautenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#37,856
“verbauen” frequency rank
#36,704
“verlauten” frequency rank
74560
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verbauen verlauten
Definition Material/Geld für einen Bau verbrauchen zur allgemeinen Kenntnisnahme bringen

Where the eye mixes verbauen and verlauten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verbauen runs 8 letters (CVCCVVVC) against verlauten's 9 (CVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
verbauen
9 ch
verlauten

Why the eye confuses verbauen with verlauten

A purely visual mix-up. verbauen ([fɛɐ̯ˈbaʊ̯ən]) and verlauten ([fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯tn̩]) 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 74560, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verbauen is recorded at frequency rank #37,856, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbaʊ̯ən]. verlauten is at rank #36,704, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯tn̩].

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 74560, this pair ranks #330,269 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of verbauen vs verlauten

Shared letters: aenruv. Private to "verbauen": b. Private to "verlauten": lt.

"verbauen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVVC  ·  "verlauten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verbauen ← evrbauen · vebrauen · verabuen · verbaeun · verbauenn · verbaune · verbbauen · verbuaen
  • verlauten ← evrlauten · velrauten · veraluten · verlatuen · verlauetn · verlautenn · verlautne · verlautten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verbauen" and "verlauten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈbaʊ̯ən] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "verbauen" or "verlauten" show up more?
"verlauten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,704 in our German list, against #37,856 for "verbauen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "verbauen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verlauten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #330,269 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verbauen" and "verlauten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verbauen vs Vergaben". 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 #330,269 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