verdutztvsversetztWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: verdutzt is a adjective, versetzt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#47,082
“verdutzt” frequency rank
#4,081
“versetzt” frequency rank
51163
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verdutzt versetzt
Definition durch etwas Unerwartetes in Erstaunen versetzt Partizip Perfekt des Verbs versetzen

Where the eye mixes verdutzt and versetzt

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. verdutzt and versetzt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
verdutzt
8 ch
versetzt

Why the eye confuses verdutzt with versetzt

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verdutzt is [fɛɐ̯ˈdʊt͡st] while versetzt is [fɛɐ̯ˈzɛt͡st]. 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 51163, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verdutzt is recorded at frequency rank #47,082, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈdʊt͡st]. versetzt is at rank #4,081, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈzɛt͡st].

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 51163, this pair ranks #1,146,062 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verdutzt vs versetzt

Shared letters: ertvz. Private to "verdutzt": du. Private to "versetzt": s.

"verdutzt" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC  ·  "versetzt" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verdutzt ← evrdutzt · vedrutzt · verddutzt · verdtuzt · verduttz · verduttzt · verdutztt · verdutzzt
  • versetzt ← evrsetzt · verestzt · verrsetzt · versettz · versettzt · versetztt · versetzzt · verseztt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verdutzt" and "versetzt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verdutzt" is an adjective and "versetzt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "verdutzt" vs "versetzt" - which ranks higher?
"versetzt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,081 in our German list, against #47,082 for "verdutzt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verdutzt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "versetzt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,146,062 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verdutzt" and "versetzt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verdutzt vs verputzt". 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 #1,146,062 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