Which to use
“verfehlen” is a verb and “verfehlte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,213
- “verfehlen” frequency rank
- #21,111
- “verfehlte” frequency rank
- 47324
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verfehlen | verfehlte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Ziel nicht treffen, nicht erreichen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verfehlt |
Where the eye mixes verfehlen and verfehlte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verfehlen (CVCCVCCVC) and verfehlte (CVCCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: verfehlen vs verfehlte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verfehlen is [fɛɐ̯ˈfeːlən] while verfehlte is [fɛɐ̯ˈfeːltə]. 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 47324, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verfehlen is recorded at frequency rank #26,213, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfeːlən]. verfehlte is at rank #21,111, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfeːltə].
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 47324, this pair ranks #1,288,330 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verfehlen vs verfehlte
Shared letters: efhlrv. Private to "verfehlen": n. Private to "verfehlte": t.
"verfehlen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verfehlte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verfehlen" for "verfehlte" ever safe?
Which is more common, "verfehlen" or "verfehlte"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verfehlen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verfehlte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,288,330 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verfehlen" and "verfehlte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verfehlen vs verfehlten". 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 #1,288,330 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.