verfallenvsverwaltenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#10,000
“verfallen” frequency rank
#13,511
“verwalten” frequency rank
23511
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verfallen verwalten
Definition mit der Zeit brüchig werden oder kaputtgehen sich auftragsgemäß um etwas kümmern

Where the eye mixes verfallen and verwalten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verfallen and verwalten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
verfallen
9 ch
verwalten

Look-alike desk: verfallen vs verwalten

A purely visual mix-up. verfallen ([fɛɐ̯ˈfalən]) and verwalten ([fɛɐ̯ˈvaltn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23511, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verfallen is recorded at frequency rank #10,000, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfalən]. verwalten is at rank #13,511, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvaltn̩].

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 23511, this pair ranks #1,860,354 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verfallen vs verwalten

Shared letters: aelnrv. Private to "verfallen": f. Private to "verwalten": tw.

"verfallen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "verwalten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verfallen ← evrfallen · vefrallen · verafllen · verfaleln · verfalen · verfallenn · verfallne · verffallen
  • verwalten ← evrwalten · verawlten · verrwalten · verwaletn · verwallten · verwaltenn · verwaltne · verwaltten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verfallen" for "verwalten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈfalən] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈvaltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verfallen" vs "verwalten" - which ranks higher?
"verfallen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,000 in our German list, against #13,511 for "verwalten". 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 "verfallen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verwalten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,860,354 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verfallen" and "verwalten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verwahren vs verwalten". 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 #1,860,354 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