Which to use
“verbessern” is a verb and “vergessen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,747
- “verbessern” frequency rank
- #625
- “vergessen” frequency rank
- 3372
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verbessern | vergessen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | korrigieren; berichtigen; nach Fehlern suchen und diese entfernen | in Moment/bestimmter Situation nicht daran gedacht, nicht daran erinnert |
Where the eye mixes verbessern and vergessen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verbessern runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVCC) against vergessen's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses verbessern with vergessen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verbessern is [fɛɐ̯ˈbɛsɐn] while vergessen is [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɛsn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3372, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verbessern is recorded at frequency rank #2,747, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbɛsɐn]. vergessen is at rank #625, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɛsn̩].
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 3372, this pair ranks #2,000,360 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verbessern vs vergessen
Shared letters: enrsv. Private to "verbessern": b. Private to "vergessen": g.
"verbessern" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC · "vergessen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verbessern ← evrbessern · vebressern · verbbessern · verbesern · verbesesrn · verbessenr · verbessernn · verbesserrn
- vergessen ← evrgessen · vegressen · veregssen · vergesen · vergesesn · vergessenn · vergessne · vergeßen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verbessern" for "vergessen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "verbessern" vs "vergessen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verbessern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vergessen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,000,360 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verbessern" and "vergessen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vergessen vs vergeuden". 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 #2,000,360 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.