Which to use
“verdauen” and “versauen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,559
- “verdauen” frequency rank
- #21,116
- “versauen” frequency rank
- 45675
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verdauen | versauen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nahrung mit Hilfe der Verdauungsorgane in solche für den Körper verwertbare Bestandteile zerlegen | etwas sehr, sehr schlecht erledigen oder behandeln, so dass es missglückt oder zerstört ist |
Where the eye mixes verdauen and versauen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verdauen and versauen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses verdauen with versauen
A purely visual mix-up. verdauen ([fɛɐ̯ˈdaʊ̯ən]) and versauen ([fɛɐ̯ˈzaʊ̯ən]) 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 a single letter - d in “verdauen” becomes s in “versauen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45675, 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]. versauen is at rank #21,116, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈzaʊ̯ən].
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 45675, this pair ranks #1,344,966 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verdauen vs versauen
Shared letters: aenruv. Private to "verdauen": d. Private to "versauen": s.
"verdauen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVVC · "versauen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verdauen" and "versauen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "verdauen" or "versauen"?
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 "verdauen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "versauen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,344,966 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verdauen" and "versauen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verdauen vs Vergaben". 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 #1,344,966 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.