verhieltvsverhieltenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#30,357
“verhielt” frequency rank
#48,592
“verhielten” frequency rank
78949
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verhielt verhielten
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verhalten 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verhalten

Where the eye mixes verhielt and verhielten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verhielt runs 8 letters (CVCCVVCC) against verhielten's 10 (CVCCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
verhielt
10 ch
verhielten

Look-alike desk: verhielt vs verhielten

A purely visual mix-up. verhielt ([fɛɐ̯ˈhiːlt]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “verhielt” sits inside “verhielten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78949, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verhielt is recorded at frequency rank #30,357, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhiːlt]. 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 78949, this pair ranks #227,019 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of verhielt vs verhielten

Shared letters: ehilrtv. Private to "verhielt": -. Private to "verhielten": n.

"verhielt" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC  ·  "verhielten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verhieltevrhielt · vehrielt · verhhielt · verhiellt · verhieltt · verhietl · verhilet · verihelt
  • verhieltenevrhielten · vehrielten · verheilten · verhhielten · verhieletn · verhiellten · verhieltenn · verhieltne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verhielt" for "verhielten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈhiːlt] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈhiːltn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verhielt" or "verhielten"?
"verhielt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,357 in our German list, against #48,592 for "verhielten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verhielt" 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 #227,019 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verhielt" 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 #227,019 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