Which to use
“verfehlten” and “verkehrten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,907
- “verfehlten” frequency rank
- #35,520
- “verkehrten” frequency rank
- 78427
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verfehlten | verkehrten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verfehlt | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verkehrt |
Where the eye mixes verfehlten and verkehrten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verfehlten and verkehrten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: verfehlten vs verkehrten
A purely visual mix-up. verfehlten ([fɛɐ̯ˈfeːltn̩]) and verkehrten ([fɛɐ̯ˈkeːɐ̯tn̩]) 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 78427, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verfehlten is recorded at frequency rank #42,907, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfeːltn̩]. verkehrten is at rank #35,520, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈkeːɐ̯tn̩].
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 78427, this pair ranks #238,584 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of verfehlten vs verkehrten
Shared letters: ehnrtv. Private to "verfehlten": fl. Private to "verkehrten": k.
"verfehlten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC · "verkehrten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verfehlten ← evrfehlten · vefrehlten · verefhlten · verfehhlten · verfehletn · verfehllten · verfehltenn · verfehltne
- verkehrten ← evrkehrten · vekrehrten · verekhrten · verkehhrten · verkehretn · verkehrrten · verkehrtenn · verkehrtne
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verfehlten" for "verkehrten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "verfehlten" or "verkehrten" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verfehlten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verkehrten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #238,584 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verfehlten" and "verkehrten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verehrter 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 #238,584 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.