verbliebvsverliehTell them apart

Which to use

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

#34,431
“verblieb” frequency rank
#16,867
“verlieh” frequency rank
51298
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verblieb verlieh
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verbleiben 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verleihen

Where the eye mixes verblieb and verlieh

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. verblieb runs 8 letters (CVCCCVVC) against verlieh's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
verblieb
7 ch
verlieh

Visual trap between verblieb and verlieh

A purely visual mix-up. verblieb ([fɛɐ̯ˈbliːp]) and verlieh ([fɛɐ̯ˈliː]) 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 51298, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verblieb is recorded at frequency rank #34,431, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbliːp]. verlieh is at rank #16,867, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈliː].

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 51298, this pair ranks #1,140,816 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verblieb vs verlieh

Shared letters: eilrv. Private to "verblieb": b. Private to "verlieh": h.

"verblieb" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC  ·  "verlieh" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verbliebevrblieb · vebrlieb · verbblieb · verbileb · verblibe · verbliebb · verbllieb · verlbieb
  • verliehevrlieh · velrieh · verileh · verliehh · verlihe · verllieh · verrlieh · vrelieh

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verblieb" for "verlieh" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈbliːp] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈliː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verblieb" vs "verlieh" - which ranks higher?
"verlieh" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,867 in our German list, against #34,431 for "verblieb". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verblieb" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verlieh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,140,816 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verblieb" and "verlieh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verblieb vs verlier". 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 #1,140,816 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