Which to use
“verdanken” is a verb and “versunken” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,117
- “verdanken” frequency rank
- #26,671
- “versunken” frequency rank
- 32788
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verdanken | versunken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemandem wegen etwas zu Dank verpflichtet sein | irgendwo drin, zum Beispiel unter der Wasseroberfläche, verschwunden |
Where the eye mixes verdanken and versunken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verdanken and versunken follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: verdanken vs versunken
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verdanken is [fɛɐ̯ˈdaŋkn̩] while versunken is [fɛɐ̯ˈzʊŋkn̩]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32788, 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]. versunken is at rank #26,671, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈzʊŋkn̩].
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 32788, this pair ranks #1,699,997 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verdanken vs versunken
Shared letters: eknrv. Private to "verdanken": ad. Private to "versunken": su.
"verdanken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "versunken" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verdanken" for "versunken" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "verdanken" or "versunken" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verdanken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "versunken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,699,997 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verdanken" and "versunken" 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 #1,699,997 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.