Which to use
“verdanken” is a verb and “Verlangen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,117
- “verdanken” frequency rank
- #2,272
- “Verlangen” frequency rank
- 8389
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verdanken | Verlangen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemandem wegen etwas zu Dank verpflichtet sein | stark ausgeprägter Wunsch; körperlicher, seelischer, geistiger Drang, einen empfundenen Mangel auszugleichen |
Where the eye mixes verdanken and Verlangen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: verdanken vs Verlangen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verdanken is [fɛɐ̯ˈdaŋkn̩] while Verlangen is [fɛɐ̯ˈlaŋən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8389, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verdanken is recorded at frequency rank #6,117, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdaŋkn̩]. Verlangen is at rank #2,272, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlaŋən].
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 8389, this pair ranks #1,984,489 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verdanken vs Verlangen
Shared letters: aenrv. Private to "verdanken": dk. Private to "Verlangen": gl.
"verdanken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "Verlangen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verdanken" and "Verlangen" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "verdanken" or "Verlangen" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verdanken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Verlangen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,984,489 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verdanken" and "Verlangen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verdanken vs verdankte". 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 #1,984,489 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.