verbietenvsvermietenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,229
“verbieten” frequency rank
#11,775
“vermieten” frequency rank
17004
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verbieten vermieten
Definition Unterlassung fordern etwas gegen Bezahlung für eine bestimmte Zeit zur Benutzung überlassen

Where the eye mixes verbieten and vermieten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

9 ch
verbieten
9 ch
vermieten

Look-alike desk: verbieten vs vermieten

A purely visual mix-up. verbieten ([fɛɐ̯ˈbiːtn̩]) and vermieten ([fɛɐ̯ˈmiːtn̩]) 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 a single letter - b in “verbieten” becomes m in “vermieten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17004, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verbieten is recorded at frequency rank #5,229, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbiːtn̩]. vermieten is at rank #11,775, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmiːtn̩].

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 17004, this pair ranks #1,931,187 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verbieten vs vermieten

Shared letters: einrtv. Private to "verbieten": b. Private to "vermieten": m.

"verbieten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC  ·  "vermieten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verbietenevrbieten · vebrieten · verbbieten · verbeiten · verbieetn · verbietenn · verbietne · verbietten
  • vermietenevrmieten · vemrieten · verimeten · vermeiten · vermieetn · vermietenn · vermietne · vermietten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verbieten" and "vermieten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈbiːtn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈmiːtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "verbieten" or "vermieten" show up more?
"verbieten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,229 in our German list, against #11,775 for "vermieten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "verbieten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vermieten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,931,187 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verbieten" and "vermieten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verhielten vs vermieten". 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 #1,931,187 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