Which to use
“verdorben” is an adjective and “versorgen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,767
- “verdorben” frequency rank
- #6,252
- “versorgen” frequency rank
- 27019
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verdorben | versorgen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | als Essen schlecht geworden, als Lebensmittel nicht mehr zum Verzehr geeignet | jemandem oder einer Sache Nötiges zuführen |
Where the eye mixes verdorben and versorgen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verdorben and versorgen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between verdorben and versorgen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verdorben is [fɛɐ̯ˈdɔʁbn̩] while versorgen is [fɛɐ̯ˈzɔʁɡn̩]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27019, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verdorben is recorded at frequency rank #20,767, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdɔʁbn̩]. versorgen is at rank #6,252, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈzɔʁɡn̩].
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 27019, this pair ranks #1,808,610 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verdorben vs versorgen
Shared letters: enorv. Private to "verdorben": bd. Private to "versorgen": gs.
"verdorben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "versorgen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verdorben" for "versorgen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "verdorben" vs "versorgen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verdorben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "versorgen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,808,610 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verdorben" and "versorgen" 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 #1,808,610 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.