verfügenvsverjagenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,839
“verfügen” frequency rank
#45,017
“verjagen” frequency rank
49856
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verfügen verjagen
Definition als Person/Stelle mit Befugnis/Befehlsgewalt anordnen, dass etwas Genanntes geschehen soll jemanden gewaltsam vertreiben, verscheuchen

Where the eye mixes verfügen and verjagen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. verfügen and verjagen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
verfügen
8 ch
verjagen

Visual trap between verfügen and verjagen

A purely visual mix-up. verfügen ([fɛɐ̯ˈfyːɡn̩]) and verjagen ([fɛɐ̯ˈjaːɡn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49856, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verfügen is recorded at frequency rank #4,839, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfyːɡn̩]. verjagen is at rank #45,017, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈjaːɡn̩].

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 49856, this pair ranks #1,195,783 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verfügen vs verjagen

Shared letters: egnrv. Private to "verfügen": fü. Private to "verjagen": aj.

"verfügen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "verjagen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verjagen ← evrjagen · vejragen · verajgen · verjaegn · verjagenn · verjaggen · verjagne · verjgaen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verfügen" for "verjagen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈfyːɡn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈjaːɡn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verfügen" vs "verjagen" - which ranks higher?
"verfügen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,839 in our German list, against #45,017 for "verjagen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verfügen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verjagen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,195,783 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verfügen" and "verjagen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vergaben vs verjagen". 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 #1,195,783 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