verbautvsverläuftWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#11,989
“verbaut” frequency rank
#5,663
“verläuft” frequency rank
17652
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verbaut verläuft
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verbauen 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verlaufen

Where the eye mixes verbaut and verläuft

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. verbaut runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against verläuft's 8 (CVCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
verbaut
8 ch
verläuft

Look-alike desk: verbaut vs verläuft

A purely visual mix-up. verbaut ([fɛɐ̯ˈbaʊ̯t]) and verläuft ([fɛɐ̯ˈlɔɪ̯ft]) 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 17652, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verbaut is recorded at frequency rank #11,989, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbaʊ̯t]. verläuft is at rank #5,663, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlɔɪ̯ft].

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 17652, this pair ranks #1,925,489 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verbaut vs verläuft

Shared letters: ertuv. Private to "verbaut": ab. Private to "verläuft": flä.

"verbaut" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "verläuft" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verbaut ← evrbaut · vebraut · verabut · verbatu · verbautt · verbbaut · verbuat · verrbaut

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verbaut" and "verläuft" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈbaʊ̯t] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈlɔɪ̯ft]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verbaut" or "verläuft"?
"verläuft" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,663 in our German list, against #11,989 for "verbaut". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verbaut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verläuft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,925,489 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verbaut" and "verläuft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verbaut vs Vorbau". 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 #1,925,489 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