VerfolgervsverfolgteWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Verfolger is a noun, verfolgte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Verfolger” is a noun and “verfolgte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,107
“Verfolger” frequency rank
#9,111
“verfolgte” frequency rank
29218
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Verfolger verfolgte
Definition jemand, der jemanden oder etwas verfolgt Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verfolgt

Where the eye mixes Verfolger and verfolgte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Verfolger (CVCCVCCVC) and verfolgte (CVCCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
Verfolger
9 ch
verfolgte

Why the eye confuses Verfolger with verfolgte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Verfolger is [fɛɐ̯ˈfɔlɡɐ] while verfolgte is [fɛɐ̯ˈfɔlktə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29218, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Verfolger is recorded at frequency rank #20,107, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfɔlɡɐ]. verfolgte is at rank #9,111, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfɔlktə].

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 29218, this pair ranks #1,770,914 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Verfolger vs verfolgte

Shared letters: efglorv. Private to "Verfolger": -. Private to "verfolgte": t.

"Verfolger" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "verfolgte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Verfolgerevrfolger · vefrolger · verffolger · verfloger · verfogler · verfolegr · verfolgerr · verfolgger
  • verfolgteevrfolgte · vefrolgte · verffolgte · verflogte · verfoglte · verfolget · verfolggte · verfolgtte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Verfolger" and "verfolgte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Verfolger" is a noun and "verfolgte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Verfolger" vs "verfolgte" - which ranks higher?
"verfolgte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,111 in our German list, against #20,107 for "Verfolger". 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 "Verfolger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verfolgte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,770,914 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Verfolger" and "verfolgte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verfolgte vs versorgte". 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 #1,770,914 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