Which to use
“verboten” and “verbotenen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,132
- “verboten” frequency rank
- #16,858
- “verbotenen” frequency rank
- 18990
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verboten | verbotenen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nicht erlaubt | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verboten |
Where the eye mixes verboten and verbotenen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verboten runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against verbotenen's 10 (CVCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: verboten vs verbotenen
A purely visual mix-up. verboten ([fɛɐ̯ˈboːtn̩]) and verbotenen ([fɛɐ̯ˈboːtənən]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “verboten” sits inside “verbotenen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verboten is recorded at frequency rank #2,132, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈboːtn̩]. verbotenen is at rank #16,858, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈboːtənən].
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 18990, this pair ranks #1,912,886 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verboten vs verbotenen
Shared letters: benortv. Private to "verboten": -. Private to "verbotenen": -.
"verboten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "verbotenen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verboten ← evrboten · vebroten · verbboten · verboetn · verbotenn · verbotne · verbotten · verbtoen
- verbotenen ← evrbotenen · vebrotenen · verbbotenen · verboetnen · verboteenn · verbotenenn · verbotennen · verbotneen
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verboten" and "verbotenen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "verboten" or "verbotenen"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "verboten" and "verbotenen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verboten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verbotenen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,912,886 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verboten" and "verbotenen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verbotenen vs verbotenes". 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 #1,912,886 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.