verfassenvsvermissenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,615
“verfassen” frequency rank
#5,781
“vermissen” frequency rank
18396
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verfassen vermissen
Definition (einen Text) erstellen und schriftlich niederlegen feststellen, wahrnehmen, dass jemand oder etwas fehlt

Where the eye mixes verfassen and vermissen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verfassen and vermissen 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
vermissen

Look-alike desk: verfassen vs vermissen

A purely visual mix-up. verfassen ([fɛɐ̯ˈfasn̩]) and vermissen ([fɛɐ̯ˈmɪsn̩]) 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 18396, 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]. vermissen is at rank #5,781, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmɪsn̩].

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 18396, this pair ranks #1,918,619 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verfassen vs vermissen

Shared letters: enrsv. Private to "verfassen": af. Private to "vermissen": im.

"verfassen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "vermissen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verfassen ← evrfassen · vefrassen · verafssen · verfasen · verfasesn · verfassenn · verfassne · verfaßen
  • vermissen ← evrmissen · vemrissen · verimssen · vermisen · vermisesn · vermissenn · vermissne · vermißen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verfassen" for "vermissen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈfasn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈmɪsn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verfassen" or "vermissen"?
"vermissen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,781 in our German list, against #12,615 for "verfassen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verfassen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vermissen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,918,619 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verfassen" and "vermissen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verfassen 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 #1,918,619 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