Which to use
“verfassen” is a verb and “verfasste” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,615
- “verfassen” frequency rank
- #14,446
- “verfasste” frequency rank
- 27061
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verfassen | verfasste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (einen Text) erstellen und schriftlich niederlegen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verfasst |
Where the eye mixes verfassen and verfasste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verfassen (CVCCVCCVC) and verfasste (CVCCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between verfassen and verfasste
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verfassen is [fɛɐ̯ˈfasn̩] while verfasste is [fɛɐ̯ˈfastə]. 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 27061, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verfassen is recorded at frequency rank #12,615, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfasn̩]. verfasste is at rank #14,446, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfastə].
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 27061, this pair ranks #1,807,990 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verfassen vs verfasste
Shared letters: aefrsv. Private to "verfassen": n. Private to "verfasste": t.
"verfassen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verfasste" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verfassen" for "verfasste" ever safe?
Which is more common, "verfassen" or "verfasste"?
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 "verfassen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verfasste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,807,990 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verfassen" and "verfasste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verfasste vs verhassten". 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 #1,807,990 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.