verheiratetevsverheiratetenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,448
“verheiratete” frequency rank
#23,353
“verheirateten” frequency rank
40801
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verheiratete verheirateten
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verheiratet Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verheiratet

Where the eye mixes verheiratete and verheirateten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. verheiratete runs 12 letters (CVCCVVCVCVCV) against verheirateten's 13 (CVCCVVCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

12 ch
verheiratete
13 ch
verheirateten

Why the eye confuses verheiratete with verheirateten

A purely visual mix-up. verheiratete ([fɛɐ̯ˈhaɪ̯ʁaːtətə]) and verheirateten ([fɛɐ̯ˈhaɪ̯ʁaːtətn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “verheiratete” sits inside “verheirateten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40801, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verheiratete is recorded at frequency rank #17,448, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhaɪ̯ʁaːtətə]. verheirateten is at rank #23,353, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhaɪ̯ʁaːtətn̩].

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 40801, this pair ranks #1,497,889 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verheiratete vs verheirateten

Shared letters: aehirtv. Private to "verheiratete": -. Private to "verheirateten": n.

"verheiratete" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCVCV  ·  "verheirateten" · 13 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verheiratete ← evrheiratete · vehreiratete · verehiratete · verheiartete · verheiraette · verheirateet · verheiratette · verheirattee
  • verheirateten ← evrheirateten · vehreirateten · verehirateten · verheiarteten · verheiraetten · verheirateetn · verheiratetenn · verheiratetne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verheiratete" and "verheirateten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈhaɪ̯ʁaːtətə] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈhaɪ̯ʁaːtətn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verheiratete" or "verheirateten"?
"verheiratete" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,448 in our German list, against #23,353 for "verheirateten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verheiratete" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verheirateten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,497,889 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verheiratete" and "verheirateten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verheiraten vs verheirateten". 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 #1,497,889 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