verbietenvsvertretenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,229
“verbieten” frequency rank
#1,462
“vertreten” frequency rank
6691
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verbieten vertreten
Definition Unterlassung fordern zeitweise an Stelle von jemand anderem handeln, repräsentieren

Where the eye mixes verbieten and vertreten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verbieten (CVCCVVCVC) and vertreten (CVCCCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
verbieten
9 ch
vertreten

Look-alike desk: verbieten vs vertreten

A purely visual mix-up. verbieten ([fɛɐ̯ˈbiːtn̩]) and vertreten ([fɛɐ̯ˈtʁeːtn̩]) 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 6691, 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]. vertreten is at rank #1,462, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁeːtn̩].

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 6691, this pair ranks #1,990,758 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verbieten vs vertreten

Shared letters: enrtv. Private to "verbieten": bi. Private to "vertreten": -.

"verbieten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC  ·  "vertreten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verbietenevrbieten · vebrieten · verbbieten · verbeiten · verbieetn · verbietenn · verbietne · verbietten
  • vertretenevrtreten · verrteten · verrtreten · verterten · vertreetn · vertretenn · vertretne · vertretten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verbieten" and "vertreten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈbiːtn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈtʁeːtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verbieten" vs "vertreten" - which ranks higher?
"vertreten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,462 in our German list, against #5,229 for "verbieten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "verbieten" and "vertreten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verbieten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vertreten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,990,758 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verbieten" and "vertreten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verbieten vs verhielten". 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 #1,990,758 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