verhängtevsVorhängeWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: verhängte is a adjective, Vorhänge is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#30,358
“verhängte” frequency rank
#18,755
“Vorhänge” frequency rank
49113
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verhängte Vorhänge
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verhängt Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Vorhang

Where the eye mixes verhängte and Vorhänge

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verhängte runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCCV) against Vorhänge's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
verhängte
8 ch
Vorhänge

Why the eye confuses verhängte with Vorhänge

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verhängte is [fɛɐ̯ˈhɛŋtə] while Vorhänge is [ˈfoːɐ̯hɛŋə]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49113, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verhängte is recorded at frequency rank #30,358, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhɛŋtə]. Vorhänge is at rank #18,755, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoːɐ̯hɛŋə].

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 49113, this pair ranks #1,223,644 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verhängte vs Vorhänge

Shared letters: eghnrvä. Private to "verhängte": t. Private to "Vorhänge": o.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verhängte" for "Vorhänge" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verhängte" is an adjective and "Vorhänge" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "verhängte" vs "Vorhänge" - which ranks higher?
"Vorhänge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,755 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.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "verhängte" and "Vorhänge" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verhängte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Vorhänge" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,223,644 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verhängte" and "Vorhänge" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verdankte vs verhängte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,223,644 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