verdächtigevsverdächtigtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: verdächtige is a adjective, verdächtigt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#9,110
“verdächtige” frequency rank
#17,753
“verdächtigt” frequency rank
26863
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verdächtige verdächtigt
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verdächtig Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verdächtigen

Where the eye mixes verdächtige and verdächtigt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. verdächtige (CVCCVCCCVCV) and verdächtigt (CVCCVCCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

11 ch
verdächtige
11 ch
verdächtigt

Visual trap between verdächtige and verdächtigt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verdächtige is [fɛɐ̯ˈdɛçtɪɡə] while verdächtigt is [fɛɐ̯ˈdɛçtɪçt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “verdächtige” becomes t in “verdächtigt”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26863, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verdächtige is recorded at frequency rank #9,110, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdɛçtɪɡə]. verdächtigt is at rank #17,753, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdɛçtɪçt].

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 26863, this pair ranks #1,811,188 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verdächtige vs verdächtigt

Shared letters: cdeghirtvä. Private to "verdächtige": -. Private to "verdächtigt": -.

"verdächtige" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCV  ·  "verdächtigt" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verdächtige" for "verdächtigt" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verdächtige" is an adjective and "verdächtigt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "verdächtige" or "verdächtigt"?
"verdächtige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,110 in our German list, against #17,753 for "verdächtigt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verdächtige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verdächtigt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,811,188 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verdächtige" and "verdächtigt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verdächtiges vs verdächtigt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,811,188 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