verfügtenvsverhütenConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#24,172
“verfügten” frequency rank
#40,923
“verhüten” frequency rank
65095
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verfügten verhüten
Definition Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verfügt den Eintritt eines unerwünschten Ereignisses verhindern

Where the eye mixes verfügten and verhüten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verfügten runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against verhüten's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
verfügten
8 ch
verhüten

Visual trap between verfügten and verhüten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verfügten is [fɛɐ̯ˈfyːktn̩] while verhüten is [fɛɐ̯ˈhyːtn̩]. 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 65095, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verfügten is recorded at frequency rank #24,172, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfyːktn̩]. verhüten is at rank #40,923, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhyːtn̩].

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 65095, this pair ranks #618,707 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verfügten vs verhüten

Shared letters: enrtvü. Private to "verfügten": fg. Private to "verhüten": h.

"verfügten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "verhüten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verfügten" for "verhüten" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verfügten" is an adjective and "verhüten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "verfügten" or "verhüten" show up more?
"verfügten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,172 in our German list, against #40,923 for "verhüten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verfügten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verhüten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #618,707 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verfügten" and "verhüten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verhüten vs verorten". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #618,707 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