verbrochenvsverbuchenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#32,336
“verbrochen” frequency rank
#18,421
“verbuchen” frequency rank
50757
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verbrochen verbuchen
Definition Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verbrechen in die Geschäftunterlagen eintragen

Where the eye mixes verbrochen and verbuchen

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

10 ch
verbrochen
9 ch
verbuchen

Why the eye confuses verbrochen with verbuchen

A purely visual mix-up. verbrochen ([fɛɐ̯ˈbʁɔxn̩]) and verbuchen ([fɛɐ̯ˈbuːxn̩]) 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 50757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verbrochen is recorded at frequency rank #32,336, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbʁɔxn̩]. verbuchen is at rank #18,421, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈbuːxn̩].

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 50757, this pair ranks #1,161,663 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verbrochen vs verbuchen

Shared letters: bcehnrv. Private to "verbrochen": o. Private to "verbuchen": u.

"verbrochen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC  ·  "verbuchen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verbrochen ← evrbrochen · vebrrochen · verbbrochen · verborchen · verbrcohen · verbrocchen · verbrocehn · verbrochenn
  • verbuchen ← evrbuchen · vebruchen · verbbuchen · verbcuhen · verbucchen · verbucehn · verbuchenn · verbuchhen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verbrochen" and "verbuchen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈbʁɔxn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈbuːxn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "verbrochen" or "verbuchen" show up more?
"verbuchen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,421 in our German list, against #32,336 for "verbrochen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verbrochen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verbuchen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,161,663 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verbrochen" and "verbuchen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Verbrechern vs verbrochen". 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 #1,161,663 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