verbreitenvsverbreitetWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: verbreiten is a verb, verbreitet is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“verbreiten” is a verb and “verbreitet” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,838
“verbreiten” frequency rank
#2,367
“verbreitet” frequency rank
7205
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verbreiten verbreitet
Definition in einen großen Umkreis gelangen bei sehr vielen Menschen oder in sehr vielen Fällen zu finden seiend

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set verbreiten and verbreitet apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
verbreiten
10 ch
verbreitet

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verbreiten is [fɛɐ̯ˈbʁaɪ̯tn̩] while verbreitet is [ˌfɛɐ̯ˈbʁaɪ̯tət]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “verbreiten” becomes t in “verbreitet”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7205, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verbreiten is recorded at frequency rank #4,838, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbʁaɪ̯tn̩]. verbreitet is at rank #2,367, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌfɛɐ̯ˈbʁaɪ̯tət].

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 7205, this pair ranks #1,989,017 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verbreiten vs verbreitet

Shared letters: beirtv. Private to "verbreiten": n. Private to "verbreitet": -.

"verbreiten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVC  ·  "verbreitet" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verbreitenevrbreiten · vebrreiten · verbbreiten · verberiten · verbreietn · verbreitenn · verbreitne · verbreitten
  • verbreitetevrbreitet · vebrreitet · verbbreitet · verberitet · verbreiett · verbreitett · verbreitte · verbreittet

Frequency comparison

verbreiten#4,838
verbreitet#2,367

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verbreiten" and "verbreitet" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verbreiten" is a verb and "verbreitet" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "verbreiten" or "verbreitet"?
"verbreitet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,367 in our German list, against #4,838 for "verbreiten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering verbreiten vs verbreitet

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “verbreiten”; for an adjective, it's “verbreitet”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “verbreiten” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list