Which to use
“verflogen” and “verfolgen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,863
- “verflogen” frequency rank
- #2,795
- “verfolgen” frequency rank
- 40658
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verflogen | verfolgen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verfliegen | jemandem hinterher fahren oder gehen, eventuell um ihn einzuholen; jemandem auf den Fersen sein |
Where the eye mixes verflogen and verfolgen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verflogen (CVCCCVCVC) and verfolgen (CVCCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses verflogen with verfolgen
A purely visual mix-up. verflogen ([fɛɐ̯ˈfloːɡn̩]) and verfolgen ([fɛɐ̯ˈfɔlɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (lo ↔ ol) - a transposition the eye reads straight past. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40658, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verflogen is recorded at frequency rank #37,863, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfloːɡn̩]. verfolgen is at rank #2,795, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfɔlɡn̩].
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 40658, this pair ranks #1,502,102 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verflogen vs verfolgen
Shared letters: efglnorv. Private to "verflogen": -. Private to "verfolgen": -.
"verflogen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC · "verfolgen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verflogen" for "verfolgen" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "verflogen" or "verfolgen" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "verflogen" and "verfolgen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verflogen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verfolgen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,502,102 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verflogen" and "verfolgen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verflogen vs verlogene". 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 #1,502,102 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.