verdauenvsversäumenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“verdauen” and “versäumen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#24,559
“verdauen” frequency rank
#33,378
“versäumen” frequency rank
57937
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verdauen versäumen
Definition Nahrung mit Hilfe der Verdauungsorgane in solche für den Körper verwertbare Bestandteile zerlegen etwas, das erforderlich wäre, nicht tun

Where the eye mixes verdauen and versäumen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. verdauen runs 8 letters (CVCCVVVC) against versäumen's 9 (CVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
verdauen
9 ch
versäumen

Visual trap between verdauen and versäumen

A purely visual mix-up. verdauen ([fɛɐ̯ˈdaʊ̯ən]) and versäumen ([fɛɐ̯ˈzɔɪ̯mən]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57937, 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]. versäumen is at rank #33,378, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈzɔɪ̯mən].

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 57937, this pair ranks #882,043 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verdauen vs versäumen

Shared letters: enruv. Private to "verdauen": ad. Private to "versäumen": msä.

"verdauen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVVC  ·  "versäumen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verdauen ← evrdauen · vedrauen · veraduen · verdaeun · verdauenn · verdaune · verddauen · verduaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verdauen" and "versäumen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈdaʊ̯ən] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈzɔɪ̯mən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "verdauen" or "versäumen" show up more?
"verdauen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,559 in our German list, against #33,378 for "versäumen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "versäumen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #882,043 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verdauen" and "versäumen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "versäumen vs versäumte". 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 #882,043 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