verfassenvsvergossenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,615
“verfassen” frequency rank
#40,282
“vergossen” frequency rank
52897
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verfassen vergossen
Definition (einen Text) erstellen und schriftlich niederlegen 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs vergießen

Where the eye mixes verfassen and vergossen

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

9 ch
verfassen
9 ch
vergossen

Visual trap between verfassen and vergossen

A purely visual mix-up. verfassen ([fɛɐ̯ˈfasn̩]) and vergossen ([fɛɐ̯ˈɡɔsn̩]) 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 52897, 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]. vergossen is at rank #40,282, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɔsn̩].

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 52897, this pair ranks #1,079,022 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verfassen vs vergossen

Shared letters: enrsv. Private to "verfassen": af. Private to "vergossen": go.

"verfassen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "vergossen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verfassenevrfassen · vefrassen · verafssen · verfasen · verfasesn · verfassenn · verfassne · verfaßen
  • vergossenevrgossen · vegrossen · verggossen · vergosen · vergosesn · vergossenn · vergossne · vergoßen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verfassen" for "vergossen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈfasn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɔsn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verfassen" vs "vergossen" - which ranks higher?
"verfassen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,615 in our German list, against #40,282 for "vergossen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "verfassen" and "vergossen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verfassen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vergossen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,079,022 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verfassen" and "vergossen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verbissen vs vergossen". 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 #1,079,022 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