Which to use
“verfehlt” is a verb and “verfehlte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,001
- “verfehlt” frequency rank
- #21,111
- “verfehlte” frequency rank
- 31112
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verfehlt | verfehlte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verfehlen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verfehlt |
Where the eye mixes verfehlt and verfehlte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verfehlt runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCC) against verfehlte's 9 (CVCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: verfehlt vs verfehlte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verfehlt is [fɛɐ̯ˈfeːlt] while verfehlte is [fɛɐ̯ˈfeːltə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “verfehlt” sits inside “verfehlte”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31112, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verfehlt is recorded at frequency rank #10,001, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfeːlt]. 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 31112, this pair ranks #1,734,553 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verfehlt vs verfehlte
Shared letters: efhlrtv. Private to "verfehlt": -. Private to "verfehlte": -.
"verfehlt" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC · "verfehlte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verfehlt" and "verfehlte" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "verfehlt" or "verfehlte" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verfehlt" 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 #1,734,553 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verfehlt" and "verfehlte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verfehlte 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 #1,734,553 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.