verdrängenvsverdrängteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: verdrängen is a verb, verdrängte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“verdrängen” is a verb and “verdrängte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,721
“verdrängen” frequency rank
#31,337
“verdrängte” frequency rank
45058
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verdrängen verdrängte
Definition jemanden oder etwas von seiner Stelle drängen oder schieben; den Platz von etwas einnehmen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verdrängt

Where the eye mixes verdrängen and verdrängte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. verdrängen (CVCCCVCCVC) and verdrängte (CVCCCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
verdrängen
10 ch
verdrängte

Visual trap between verdrängen and verdrängte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verdrängen is [fɛɐ̯ˈdʁɛŋən] while verdrängte is [fɛɐ̯ˈdʁɛŋtə]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45058, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verdrängen is recorded at frequency rank #13,721, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdʁɛŋən]. verdrängte is at rank #31,337, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdʁɛŋtə].

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 45058, this pair ranks #1,365,912 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verdrängen vs verdrängte

Shared letters: degnrvä. Private to "verdrängen": -. Private to "verdrängte": t.

"verdrängen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC  ·  "verdrängte" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verdrängen" and "verdrängte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verdrängen" is a verb and "verdrängte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "verdrängen" vs "verdrängte" - which ranks higher?
"verdrängen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,721 in our German list, against #31,337 for "verdrängte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verdrängen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verdrängte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,365,912 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verdrängen" and "verdrängte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verdankte vs verdrängte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,365,912 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