Which to use
“verderben” is a verb and “verdorben” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,652
- “verderben” frequency rank
- #20,767
- “verdorben” frequency rank
- 30419
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verderben | verdorben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas unbrauchbar oder zunichte machen, speziell auch jemandem ein positives Gefühl nehmen | als Essen schlecht geworden, als Lebensmittel nicht mehr zum Verzehr geeignet |
Where the eye mixes verderben and verdorben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verderben and verdorben follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses verderben with verdorben
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verderben is [fɛɐ̯ˈdɛʁbn̩] while verdorben is [fɛɐ̯ˈdɔʁbn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “verderben” becomes o in “verdorben”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30419, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verderben is recorded at frequency rank #9,652, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdɛʁbn̩]. verdorben is at rank #20,767, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdɔʁbn̩].
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 30419, this pair ranks #1,748,196 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verderben vs verdorben
Shared letters: bdenrv. Private to "verderben": -. Private to "verdorben": o.
"verderben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verdorben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verderben" and "verdorben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "verderben" or "verdorben"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "verderben" and "verdorben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verderben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verdorben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,748,196 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verderben" and "verdorben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verdorben vs verworren". 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 #1,748,196 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.