vergessenevsverlasseneWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#19,751
“vergessene” frequency rank
#27,547
“verlassene” frequency rank
47298
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vergessene verlassene
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs vergessen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verlassen

Where the eye mixes vergessene and verlassene

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

10 ch
vergessene
10 ch
verlassene

Why the eye confuses vergessene with verlassene

A purely visual mix-up. vergessene ([fɛɐ̯ˈɡɛsənə]) and verlassene ([fɛɐ̯ˈlasənə]) 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 47298, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vergessene is recorded at frequency rank #19,751, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈɡɛsənə]. verlassene is at rank #27,547, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlasənə].

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 47298, this pair ranks #1,289,268 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vergessene vs verlassene

Shared letters: enrsv. Private to "vergessene": g. Private to "verlassene": al.

"vergessene" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV  ·  "verlassene" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vergesseneevrgessene · vegressene · veregssene · vergesene · vergesesne · vergesseen · vergessenne · vergessnee
  • verlasseneevrlassene · velrassene · veralssene · verlasene · verlasesne · verlasseen · verlassnee · verlaßene

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vergessene" for "verlassene" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈɡɛsənə] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈlasənə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vergessene" or "verlassene"?
"vergessene" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,751 in our German list, against #27,547 for "verlassene". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vergessene" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verlassene" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,289,268 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vergessene" and "verlassene" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verblassen vs verlassene". 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 #1,289,268 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