verbietenvsverwiesenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,229
“verbieten” frequency rank
#7,248
“verwiesen” frequency rank
12477
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verbieten verwiesen
Definition Unterlassung fordern 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verweisen

Where the eye mixes verbieten and verwiesen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
verbieten
9 ch
verwiesen

Visual trap between verbieten and verwiesen

A purely visual mix-up. verbieten ([fɛɐ̯ˈbiːtn̩]) and verwiesen ([fɛɐ̯ˈviːzn̩]) 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 12477, 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]. verwiesen is at rank #7,248, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈviːzn̩].

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 12477, this pair ranks #1,963,958 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verbieten vs verwiesen

Shared letters: einrv. Private to "verbieten": bt. Private to "verwiesen": sw.

"verbieten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC  ·  "verwiesen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verbietenevrbieten · vebrieten · verbbieten · verbeiten · verbieetn · verbietenn · verbietne · verbietten
  • verwiesenevrwiesen · veriwesen · verrwiesen · verwieesn · verwiesenn · verwiesne · verwiessen · verwiseen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verbieten" and "verwiesen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈbiːtn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈviːzn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verbieten" vs "verwiesen" - which ranks higher?
"verbieten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,229 in our German list, against #7,248 for "verwiesen". 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 "verwiesen" 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 "verwiesen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,963,958 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verbieten" and "verwiesen" 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 #1,963,958 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