Which to use
“verhelfen” and “verhielten” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,509
- “verhelfen” frequency rank
- #48,592
- “verhielten” frequency rank
- 64101
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verhelfen | verhielten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemanden bei einer Sache unterstützen, damit ein Ziel, ein gewünschtes Ereignis erreicht wird | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verhalten |
Where the eye mixes verhelfen and verhielten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verhelfen runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against verhielten's 10 (CVCCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between verhelfen and verhielten
A purely visual mix-up. verhelfen ([fɛɐ̯ˈhɛlfn̩]) and verhielten ([fɛɐ̯ˈhiːltn̩]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64101, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verhelfen is recorded at frequency rank #15,509, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhɛlfn̩]. verhielten is at rank #48,592, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhiːltn̩].
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 64101, this pair ranks #653,396 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verhelfen vs verhielten
Shared letters: ehlnrv. Private to "verhelfen": f. Private to "verhielten": it.
"verhelfen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verhielten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verhelfen ← evrhelfen · vehrelfen · verehlfen · verheflen · verhelefn · verhelfenn · verhelffen · verhelfne
- verhielten ← evrhielten · vehrielten · verheilten · verhhielten · verhieletn · verhiellten · verhieltenn · verhieltne
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verhelfen" for "verhielten" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "verhelfen" or "verhielten" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verhelfen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verhielten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #653,396 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verhelfen" and "verhielten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verhielten vs verzierten". 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 #653,396 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.