VerhaftungvsVerwaltungConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#10,961
“Verhaftung” frequency rank
#1,683
“Verwaltung” frequency rank
12644
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Verhaftung Verwaltung
Definition Vollzug eines Haftbefehls, Führung in Polizeigewahrsam Organisation der Abläufe in Betrieben und anderen öffentlichen oder privaten Institutionen sowie deren Durchführung

Where the eye mixes Verhaftung and Verwaltung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Verhaftung and Verwaltung follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
Verhaftung
10 ch
Verwaltung

Why the eye confuses Verhaftung with Verwaltung

A purely visual mix-up. Verhaftung ([fɛɐ̯ˈhaftʊŋ]) and Verwaltung ([fɛɐ̯ˈvaltʊŋ]) 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 12644, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Verhaftung is recorded at frequency rank #10,961, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhaftʊŋ]. Verwaltung is at rank #1,683, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvaltʊŋ].

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 12644, this pair ranks #1,962,930 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Verhaftung vs Verwaltung

Shared letters: aegnrtuv. Private to "Verhaftung": fh. Private to "Verwaltung": lw.

"Verhaftung" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC  ·  "Verwaltung" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Verhaftung ← evrhaftung · vehraftung · verahftung · verhafftung · verhaftnug · verhafttung · verhaftugn · verhaftungg
  • Verwaltung ← evrwaltung · verawltung · verrwaltung · verwalltung · verwaltnug · verwalttung · verwaltugn · verwaltungg

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Verhaftung" for "Verwaltung" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈhaftʊŋ] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈvaltʊŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Verhaftung" or "Verwaltung"?
"Verwaltung" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,683 in our German list, against #10,961 for "Verhaftung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Verhaftung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Verwaltung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,962,930 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Verhaftung" and "Verwaltung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Verhaftung vs Verhängung". 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 #1,962,930 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