verfluchtenvsverpflichtenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: verfluchten is a adjective, verpflichten is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“verfluchten” is an adjective and “verpflichten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,486
“verfluchten” frequency rank
#10,390
“verpflichten” frequency rank
48876
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verfluchten verpflichten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verflucht jemanden in die Pflicht nehmen, etwas zu tun

Where the eye mixes verfluchten and verpflichten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.

11 ch
verfluchten
12 ch
verpflichten

Why the eye confuses verfluchten with verpflichten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verfluchten is [fɛɐ̯ˈfluːxtn̩] while verpflichten is [fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtn̩]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48876, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verfluchten is recorded at frequency rank #38,486, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfluːxtn̩]. verpflichten is at rank #10,390, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈp͡flɪçtn̩].

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 48876, this pair ranks #1,232,243 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verfluchten vs verpflichten

Shared letters: cefhlnrtv. Private to "verfluchten": u. Private to "verpflichten": ip.

"verfluchten" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCCCVC  ·  "verpflichten" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verfluchtenevrfluchten · vefrluchten · verffluchten · verflcuhten · verflluchten · verflucchten · verfluchetn · verfluchhten
  • verpflichtenevrpflichten · veprflichten · verfplichten · verpfflichten · verpfilchten · verpflcihten · verpflicchten · verpflichetn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verfluchten" and "verpflichten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verfluchten" is an adjective and "verpflichten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "verfluchten" vs "verpflichten" - which ranks higher?
"verpflichten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,390 in our German list, against #38,486 for "verfluchten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verfluchten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verpflichten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,232,243 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verfluchten" and "verpflichten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verfluchte vs verfluchten". 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 #1,232,243 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