verborgenvsversorgtenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,345
“verborgen” frequency rank
#39,698
“versorgten” frequency rank
51043
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verborgen versorgten
Definition aufgrund der versteckten, abgelegenen Lage schwer zu erreichen oder zu finden Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs versorgt

Where the eye mixes verborgen and versorgten

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

9 ch
verborgen
10 ch
versorgten

Why the eye confuses verborgen with versorgten

A purely visual mix-up. verborgen ([fɛɐ̯ˈbɔʁɡn̩]) and versorgten ([fɛɐ̯ˈzɔʁktn̩]) 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 51043, 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]. versorgten is at rank #39,698, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈzɔʁktn̩].

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 51043, this pair ranks #1,150,666 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verborgen vs versorgten

Shared letters: egnorv. Private to "verborgen": b. Private to "versorgten": st.

"verborgen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "versorgten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verborgen ← evrborgen · vebrorgen · verbborgen · verbogren · verboregn · verborgenn · verborggen · verborgne
  • versorgten ← evrsorgten · verosrgten · verrsorgten · versogrten · versorgetn · versorggten · versorgtenn · versorgtne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verborgen" for "versorgten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈbɔʁɡn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈzɔʁktn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verborgen" or "versorgten"?
"verborgen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,345 in our German list, against #39,698 for "versorgten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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 "versorgten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,150,666 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verborgen" and "versorgten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verorten vs versorgten". 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 #1,150,666 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