Which to use
“verfehlen” is a verb and “verfehlten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,213
- “verfehlen” frequency rank
- #42,907
- “verfehlten” frequency rank
- 69120
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verfehlen | verfehlten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Ziel nicht treffen, nicht erreichen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verfehlt |
Where the eye mixes verfehlen and verfehlten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. verfehlen runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against verfehlten's 10 (CVCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between verfehlen and verfehlten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verfehlen is [fɛɐ̯ˈfeːlən] while verfehlten is [fɛɐ̯ˈfeːltn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69120, 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]. verfehlten is at rank #42,907, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfeːltn̩].
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 69120, this pair ranks #486,448 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of verfehlen vs verfehlten
Shared letters: efhlnrv. Private to "verfehlen": -. Private to "verfehlten": t.
"verfehlen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verfehlten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verfehlen ← evrfehlen · vefrehlen · verefhlen · verfeheln · verfehhlen · verfehlenn · verfehllen · verfehlne
- verfehlten ← evrfehlten · vefrehlten · verefhlten · verfehhlten · verfehletn · verfehllten · verfehltenn · verfehltne
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verfehlen" and "verfehlten" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "verfehlen" or "verfehlten" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "verfehlen" and "verfehlten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verfehlen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verfehlten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #486,448 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verfehlen" and "verfehlten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verfehlten vs verkehrten". 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 #486,448 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.