vergebenvsverwobenConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#2,694
“vergeben” frequency rank
#33,382
“verwoben” frequency rank
36076
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vergeben verwoben
Definition mit einem Partner fest zusammenlebend Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verweben

Where the eye mixes vergeben and verwoben

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

8 ch
vergeben
8 ch
verwoben

Look-alike desk: vergeben vs verwoben

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vergeben is [fɛɐ̯ˈɡeːbn̩] while verwoben is [fɛɐ̯ˈvoːbn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36076, 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]. verwoben is at rank #33,382, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvoːbn̩].

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 36076, this pair ranks #1,624,531 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vergeben vs verwoben

Shared letters: benrv. Private to "vergeben": g. Private to "verwoben": ow.

"vergeben" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "verwoben" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vergebenevrgeben · vegreben · veregben · vergbeen · vergebben · vergebenn · vergebne · vergeebn
  • verwobenevrwoben · verowben · verrwoben · verwboen · verwobben · verwobenn · verwobne · verwoebn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "vergeben" and "verwoben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vergeben" is an adjective and "verwoben" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "vergeben" or "verwoben" show up more?
"vergeben" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,694 in our German list, against #33,382 for "verwoben". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vergeben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verwoben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,624,531 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vergeben" and "verwoben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verwoben vs verworren". 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 #1,624,531 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