verbrachtevsverursachteConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#8,960
“verbrachte” frequency rank
#10,964
“verursachte” frequency rank
19924
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verbrachte verursachte
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verbracht Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verursacht

Where the eye mixes verbrachte and verursachte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. verbrachte runs 10 letters (CVCCCVCCCV) against verursachte's 11 (CVCVCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
verbrachte
11 ch
verursachte

Look-alike desk: verbrachte vs verursachte

A purely visual mix-up. verbrachte ([fɛɐ̯ˈbʁaxtə]) and verursachte ([fɛɐ̯ˈʔuːɐ̯ˌzaxtə]) 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 19924, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verbrachte is recorded at frequency rank #8,960, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbʁaxtə]. verursachte is at rank #10,964, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔuːɐ̯ˌzaxtə].

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 19924, this pair ranks #1,903,176 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verbrachte vs verursachte

Shared letters: acehrtv. Private to "verbrachte": b. Private to "verursachte": su.

"verbrachte" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCCV  ·  "verursachte" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verbrachte ← evrbrachte · vebrrachte · verbarchte · verbbrachte · verbracchte · verbrachet · verbrachhte · verbrachtte
  • verursachte ← evrursachte · verrursachte · verrusachte · veruraschte · verurrsachte · verursacchte · verursachet · verursachhte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verbrachte" and "verursachte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈbʁaxtə] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈʔuːɐ̯ˌzaxtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verbrachte" or "verursachte"?
"verbrachte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,960 in our German list, against #10,964 for "verursachte". 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 "verbrachte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verursachte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,903,176 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verbrachte" and "verursachte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verbrachte vs verbrauchten". 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 #1,903,176 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