vergebenvsverübenWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#2,694
“vergeben” frequency rank
#32,844
“verüben” frequency rank
35538
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vergeben verüben
Definition mit einem Partner fest zusammenlebend etwas Negatives, Schädliches ausführen

Where the eye mixes vergeben and verüben

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. vergeben runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against verüben's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
vergeben
7 ch
verüben

Visual trap between vergeben and verüben

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vergeben is [fɛɐ̯ˈɡeːbn̩] while verüben is [fɛɐ̯ˈʔyːbn̩]. 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 35538, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vergeben is recorded at frequency rank #2,694, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡeːbn̩]. verüben is at rank #32,844, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔyːbn̩].

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 35538, this pair ranks #1,637,588 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vergeben vs verüben

Shared letters: benrv. Private to "vergeben": g. Private to "verüben": ü.

"vergeben" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "verüben" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vergeben ← evrgeben · vegreben · veregben · vergbeen · vergebben · vergebenn · vergebne · vergeebn

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vergeben" and "verüben" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vergeben" is an adjective and "verüben" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "vergeben" vs "verüben" - which ranks higher?
"vergeben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,694 in our German list, against #32,844 for "verüben". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "vergeben" and "verüben" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vergeben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verüben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,637,588 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vergeben" and "verüben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vergaben vs verüben". 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 #1,637,588 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