Which to use
“verbreiten” is a verb and “verbreitete” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,838
- “verbreiten” frequency rank
- #8,474
- “verbreitete” frequency rank
- 13312
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verbreiten | verbreitete |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in einen großen Umkreis gelangen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verbreitet |
Where the eye mixes verbreiten and verbreitete
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. verbreiten runs 10 letters (CVCCCVVCVC) against verbreitete's 11 (CVCCCVVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses verbreiten with verbreitete
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verbreiten is [fɛɐ̯ˈbʁaɪ̯tn̩] while verbreitete is [ˌfɛɐ̯ˈbʁaɪ̯tətə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13312, 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]. verbreitete is at rank #8,474, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˌfɛɐ̯ˈbʁaɪ̯tətə].
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 13312, this pair ranks #1,958,783 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verbreiten vs verbreitete
Shared letters: beirtv. Private to "verbreiten": n. Private to "verbreitete": -.
"verbreiten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVC · "verbreitete" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- verbreiten ← evrbreiten · vebrreiten · verbbreiten · verberiten · verbreietn · verbreitenn · verbreitne · verbreitten
- verbreitete ← evrbreitete · vebrreitete · verbbreitete · verberitete · verbreiette · verbreiteet · verbreitette · verbreittee
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verbreiten" for "verbreitete" ever safe?
Frequency check: "verbreiten" vs "verbreitete" - 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 "verbreiten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verbreitete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,958,783 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verbreiten" and "verbreitete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verbreite vs verbreitete". 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 #1,958,783 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.