Which to use
“verbessern” is a verb and “vermessen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,747
- “verbessern” frequency rank
- #19,068
- “vermessen” frequency rank
- 21815
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verbessern | vermessen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | korrigieren; berichtigen; nach Fehlern suchen und diese entfernen | übermäßig ehrgeizig und deshalb riskant |
Where the eye mixes verbessern and vermessen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verbessern runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVCC) against vermessen's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: verbessern vs vermessen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verbessern is [fɛɐ̯ˈbɛsɐn] while vermessen is [fɛɐ̯ˈmɛsn̩]. 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 21815, 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]. vermessen is at rank #19,068, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmɛsn̩].
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 21815, this pair ranks #1,881,828 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verbessern vs vermessen
Shared letters: enrsv. Private to "verbessern": b. Private to "vermessen": m.
"verbessern" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC · "vermessen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verbessern ← evrbessern · vebressern · verbbessern · verbesern · verbesesrn · verbessenr · verbessernn · verbesserrn
- vermessen ← evrmessen · vemressen · veremssen · vermesen · vermesesn · vermessenn · vermessne · vermeßen
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verbessern" and "vermessen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "verbessern" or "vermessen"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "verbessern" and "vermessen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verbessern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vermessen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,881,828 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verbessern" and "vermessen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vermessen vs vermiesen". 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 #1,881,828 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.