verdauenvsVerhauenTell them apart

Quick tell: verdauen is a verb, Verhauen is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“verdauen” is a verb and “Verhauen” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,559
“verdauen” frequency rank
#41,538
“Verhauen” frequency rank
66097
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verdauen Verhauen
Definition Nahrung mit Hilfe der Verdauungsorgane in solche für den Körper verwertbare Bestandteile zerlegen Dativ Plural des Substantivs Verhau

Where the eye mixes verdauen and Verhauen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
verdauen
8 ch
Verhauen

Why the eye confuses verdauen with Verhauen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verdauen is [fɛɐ̯ˈdaʊ̯ən] while Verhauen is [fɛɐ̯ˈhaʊ̯ən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “verdauen” becomes h in “Verhauen”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66097, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verdauen is recorded at frequency rank #24,559, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdaʊ̯ən]. Verhauen is at rank #41,538, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhaʊ̯ən].

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 66097, this pair ranks #584,689 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verdauen vs Verhauen

Shared letters: aenruv. Private to "verdauen": d. Private to "Verhauen": h.

"verdauen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVVC  ·  "Verhauen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verdauenevrdauen · vedrauen · veraduen · verdaeun · verdauenn · verdaune · verddauen · verduaen
  • Verhauenevrhauen · vehrauen · verahuen · verhaeun · verhauenn · verhaune · verhhauen · verhuaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verdauen" and "Verhauen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verdauen" is a verb and "Verhauen" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "verdauen" or "Verhauen"?
"verdauen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,559 in our German list, against #41,538 for "Verhauen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "verdauen" and "Verhauen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verdauen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Verhauen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #584,689 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verdauen" and "Verhauen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vergaben vs Verhauen". 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 #584,689 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