verbautvsversäumtWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,989
“verbaut” frequency rank
#15,249
“versäumt” frequency rank
27238
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verbaut versäumt
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verbauen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs versäumen

Where the eye mixes verbaut and versäumt

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

7 ch
verbaut
8 ch
versäumt

Visual trap between verbaut and versäumt

A purely visual mix-up. verbaut ([fɛɐ̯ˈbaʊ̯t]) and versäumt ([fɛɐ̯ˈzɔɪ̯mt]) 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 27238, 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]. versäumt is at rank #15,249, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈzɔɪ̯mt].

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 27238, this pair ranks #1,805,030 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verbaut vs versäumt

Shared letters: ertuv. Private to "verbaut": ab. Private to "versäumt": msä.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verbaut" for "versäumt" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈbaʊ̯t] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈzɔɪ̯mt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verbaut" vs "versäumt" - which ranks higher?
"verbaut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,989 in our German list, against #15,249 for "versäumt". 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 "versäumt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,805,030 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verbaut" and "versäumt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "versäumt vs versäumte". 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 #1,805,030 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