Which to use
“verfolge” is a verb and “verfolgten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,974
- “verfolge” frequency rank
- #10,764
- “verfolgten” frequency rank
- 25738
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verfolge | verfolgten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verfolgen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verfolgt |
Where the eye mixes verfolge and verfolgten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verfolge runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against verfolgten's 10 (CVCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between verfolge and verfolgten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verfolge is [fɛɐ̯ˈfɔlɡə] while verfolgten is [fɛɐ̯ˈfɔlktn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25738, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verfolge is recorded at frequency rank #14,974, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfɔlɡə]. verfolgten is at rank #10,764, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfɔlktn̩].
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 25738, this pair ranks #1,828,716 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verfolge vs verfolgten
Shared letters: efglorv. Private to "verfolge": -. Private to "verfolgten": nt.
"verfolge" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "verfolgten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verfolge ← evrfolge · vefrolge · verffolge · verfloge · verfogle · verfoleg · verfolgge · verfollge
- verfolgten ← evrfolgten · vefrolgten · verffolgten · verflogten · verfoglten · verfolgetn · verfolggten · verfolgtenn
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verfolge" and "verfolgten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "verfolge" or "verfolgten" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verfolge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verfolgten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,828,716 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verfolge" and "verfolgten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verfolgten vs versorgten". 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 #1,828,716 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.