Which to use
“verhaften” and “verhängen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,752
- “verhaften” frequency rank
- #27,545
- “verhängen” frequency rank
- 47297
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verhaften | verhängen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden in Haft, in Gewahrsam nehmen | etwas mit einem Tuch oder dergleichen zuhängen, verbergen |
Where the eye mixes verhaften and verhängen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. verhaften and verhängen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses verhaften with verhängen
A purely visual mix-up. verhaften ([fɛɐ̯ˈhaftn̩]) and verhängen ([fɛɐ̯ˈhɛŋən]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47297, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verhaften is recorded at frequency rank #19,752, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhaftn̩]. verhängen is at rank #27,545, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhɛŋən].
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 47297, this pair ranks #1,289,310 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verhaften vs verhängen
Shared letters: ehnrv. Private to "verhaften": aft. Private to "verhängen": gä.
"verhaften" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verhängen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verhaften ← evrhaften · vehraften · verahften · verhafetn · verhafften · verhaftenn · verhaftne · verhaftten
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verhaften" and "verhängen" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "verhaften" or "verhängen"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verhaften" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verhängen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,289,310 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verhaften" and "verhängen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verhängen vs verjagen". 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 #1,289,310 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.