verhaltevsverhängteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: verhalte is a verb, verhängte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#28,909
“verhalte” frequency rank
#30,358
“verhängte” frequency rank
59267
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verhalte verhängte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verhalten Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verhängt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set verhalte and verhängte apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
verhalte
9 ch
verhängte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verhalte is [fɛɐ̯ˈhaltə] while verhängte is [fɛɐ̯ˈhɛŋtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59267, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verhalte is recorded at frequency rank #28,909, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhaltə]. verhängte is at rank #30,358, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhɛŋtə].

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 59267, this pair ranks #830,929 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verhalte vs verhängte

Shared letters: ehrtv. Private to "verhalte": al. Private to "verhängte": gnä.

"verhalte" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "verhängte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verhalteevrhalte · vehralte · verahlte · verhalet · verhallte · verhaltte · verhatle · verhhalte

Frequency comparison

verhalte#28,909
verhängte#30,358

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verhalte" and "verhängte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verhalte" is a verb and "verhängte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "verhalte" or "verhängte"?
"verhalte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,909 in our German list, against #30,358 for "verhängte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering verhalte vs verhängte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “verhalte”; for an adjective, it's “verhängte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “verhalte” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list