verführenvsverkehrenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,860
“verführen” frequency rank
#16,863
“verkehren” frequency rank
33723
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verführen verkehren
Definition an einen anderen Ort führen nur mit dem Hilfsverb haben:

Where the eye mixes verführen and verkehren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verführen and verkehren follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
verführen
9 ch
verkehren

Look-alike desk: verführen vs verkehren

A purely visual mix-up. verführen ([fɛɐ̯ˈfyːʁən]) and verkehren ([fɛɐ̯ˈkeːʁən]) 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 33723, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verführen is recorded at frequency rank #16,860, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈfyːʁən]. verkehren is at rank #16,863, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈkeːʁən].

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 33723, this pair ranks #1,679,512 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verführen vs verkehren

Shared letters: ehnrv. Private to "verführen": fü. Private to "verkehren": k.

"verführen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "verkehren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verkehren ← evrkehren · vekrehren · verekhren · verkehern · verkehhren · verkehrenn · verkehrne · verkehrren

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verführen" for "verkehren" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈfyːʁən] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈkeːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verführen" or "verkehren"?
"verführen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,860 in our German list, against #16,863 for "verkehren". 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 "verführen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verkehren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,679,512 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verführen" and "verkehren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verkehren vs verwahren". 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 #1,679,512 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