verfolgtenvsverfügtenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,764
“verfolgten” frequency rank
#24,172
“verfügten” frequency rank
34936
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verfolgten verfügten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verfolgt Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verfügt

Where the eye mixes verfolgten and verfügten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

10 ch
verfolgten
9 ch
verfügten

Look-alike desk: verfolgten vs verfügten

A purely visual mix-up. verfolgten ([fɛɐ̯ˈfɔlktn̩]) and verfügten ([fɛɐ̯ˈfyːktn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34936, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verfolgten is recorded at frequency rank #10,764, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfɔlktn̩]. verfügten is at rank #24,172, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfyːktn̩].

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 34936, this pair ranks #1,651,866 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verfolgten vs verfügten

Shared letters: efgnrtv. Private to "verfolgten": lo. Private to "verfügten": ü.

"verfolgten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC  ·  "verfügten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verfolgtenevrfolgten · vefrolgten · verffolgten · verflogten · verfoglten · verfolgetn · verfolggten · verfolgtenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verfolgten" and "verfügten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈfɔlktn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈfyːktn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "verfolgten" or "verfügten" show up more?
"verfolgten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,764 in our German list, against #24,172 for "verfügten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verfolgten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verfügten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,651,866 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verfolgten" and "verfügten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verfügten vs verhüten". 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 #1,651,866 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