Which to use
“vergessen” is an adjective and “verlassen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #625
- “vergessen” frequency rank
- #981
- “verlassen” frequency rank
- 1606
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vergessen | verlassen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in Moment/bestimmter Situation nicht daran gedacht, nicht daran erinnert | weggehen, sich entfernen |
Where the eye mixes vergessen and verlassen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vergessen is [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɛsn̩] while verlassen is [fɛɐ̯ˈlasn̩]. 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 1606, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vergessen is recorded at frequency rank #625, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɛsn̩]. verlassen is at rank #981, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlasn̩].
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 1606, this pair ranks #2,004,037 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vergessen vs verlassen
Shared letters: enrsv. Private to "vergessen": g. Private to "verlassen": al.
"vergessen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verlassen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC