verfielvsverziehConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#29,841
“verfiel” frequency rank
#49,358
“verzieh” frequency rank
79199
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verfiel verzieh
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verfallen 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verzeihen

Where the eye mixes verfiel and verzieh

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. verfiel and verzieh follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
verfiel
7 ch
verzieh

Look-alike desk: verfiel vs verzieh

A purely visual mix-up. verfiel ([fɛɐ̯ˈfiːl]) and verzieh ([fɛɐ̯ˈt͡siː]) 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 79199, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verfiel is recorded at frequency rank #29,841, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfiːl]. verzieh is at rank #49,358, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡siː].

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 79199, this pair ranks #221,693 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of verfiel vs verzieh

Shared letters: eirv. Private to "verfiel": fl. Private to "verzieh": hz.

"verfiel" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "verzieh" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verfielevrfiel · vefriel · verfeil · verffiel · verfiell · verfile · verifel · verrfiel
  • verziehevrzieh · verizeh · verrzieh · verziehh · verzihe · verzzieh · vezrieh · vrezieh

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verfiel" and "verzieh" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈfiːl] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈt͡siː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "verfiel" or "verzieh" show up more?
"verfiel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,841 in our German list, against #49,358 for "verzieh". 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 "verfiel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verzieh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #221,693 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verfiel" and "verzieh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vermied vs verzieh". 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 #221,693 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