Which to use
“verborgen” is an adjective and “verfolgen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,345
- “verborgen” frequency rank
- #2,795
- “verfolgen” frequency rank
- 14140
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verborgen | verfolgen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | aufgrund der versteckten, abgelegenen Lage schwer zu erreichen oder zu finden | jemandem hinterher fahren oder gehen, eventuell um ihn einzuholen; jemandem auf den Fersen sein |
Where the eye mixes verborgen and verfolgen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verborgen and verfolgen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between verborgen and verfolgen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verborgen is [fɛɐ̯ˈbɔʁɡn̩] while verfolgen is [fɛɐ̯ˈfɔlɡn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14140, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verborgen is recorded at frequency rank #11,345, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbɔʁɡn̩]. verfolgen is at rank #2,795, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfɔlɡn̩].
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 14140, this pair ranks #1,953,287 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verborgen vs verfolgen
Shared letters: egnorv. Private to "verborgen": b. Private to "verfolgen": fl.
"verborgen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verfolgen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verborgen" and "verfolgen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "verborgen" vs "verfolgen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verborgen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verfolgen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,953,287 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verborgen" and "verfolgen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verborgen vs verworren". 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 #1,953,287 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.