verbleibenvsverleihenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,259
“verbleiben” frequency rank
#7,415
“verleihen” frequency rank
20674
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verbleiben verleihen
Definition sich auf etwas verständigen etwas zeitweise jemandem überlassen

Where the eye mixes verbleiben and verleihen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verbleiben runs 10 letters (CVCCCVVCVC) against verleihen's 9 (CVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
verbleiben
9 ch
verleihen

Look-alike desk: verbleiben vs verleihen

A purely visual mix-up. verbleiben ([fɛɐ̯ˈblaɪ̯bn̩]) and verleihen ([fɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯ən]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20674, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verbleiben is recorded at frequency rank #13,259, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈblaɪ̯bn̩]. verleihen is at rank #7,415, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯ən].

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 20674, this pair ranks #1,895,068 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verbleiben vs verleihen

Shared letters: eilnrv. Private to "verbleiben": b. Private to "verleihen": h.

"verbleiben" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVC  ·  "verleihen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verbleiben ← evrbleiben · vebrleiben · verbbleiben · verbeliben · verblebien · verbleibben · verbleibenn · verbleibne
  • verleihen ← evrleihen · velreihen · verelihen · verlehien · verleiehn · verleihenn · verleihhen · verleihne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verbleiben" and "verleihen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈblaɪ̯bn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯ən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verbleiben" vs "verleihen" - which ranks higher?
"verleihen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,415 in our German list, against #13,259 for "verbleiben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verbleiben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verleihen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,895,068 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verbleiben" and "verleihen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verleihen vs verzeihe". 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 #1,895,068 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