Which to use
“verbergen” and “verderben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,680
- “verbergen” frequency rank
- #9,652
- “verderben” frequency rank
- 17332
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verbergen | verderben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | sich verstecken, damit man nicht gefunden wird | etwas unbrauchbar oder zunichte machen, speziell auch jemandem ein positives Gefühl nehmen |
Where the eye mixes verbergen and verderben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verbergen and verderben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between verbergen and verderben
A purely visual mix-up. verbergen ([fɛɐ̯ˈbɛʁɡn̩]) and verderben ([fɛɐ̯ˈdɛʁbn̩]) 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 17332, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verbergen is recorded at frequency rank #7,680, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbɛʁɡn̩]. verderben is at rank #9,652, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdɛʁbn̩].
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 17332, this pair ranks #1,928,312 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verbergen vs verderben
Shared letters: benrv. Private to "verbergen": g. Private to "verderben": d.
"verbergen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verderben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verbergen" for "verderben" ever safe?
Which is more common, "verbergen" or "verderben"?
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 "verbergen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verderben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,928,312 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verbergen" and "verderben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verderben vs vererben". 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 #1,928,312 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.