Which to use
“verhielt” is a verb and “verspielt” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,357
- “verhielt” frequency rank
- #14,703
- “verspielt” frequency rank
- 45060
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verhielt | verspielt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verhalten | nur spielen wollend, gern spielend; leicht ablenkbar |
Where the eye mixes verhielt and verspielt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verhielt runs 8 letters (CVCCVVCC) against verspielt's 9 (CVCCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses verhielt with verspielt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verhielt is [fɛɐ̯ˈhiːlt] while verspielt is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃpiːlt]. 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 45060, 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]. verspielt is at rank #14,703, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃpiːlt].
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 45060, this pair ranks #1,365,843 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verhielt vs verspielt
Shared letters: eilrtv. Private to "verhielt": h. Private to "verspielt": ps.
"verhielt" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC · "verspielt" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verhielt" for "verspielt" ever safe?
Frequency check: "verhielt" vs "verspielt" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "verhielt" and "verspielt" 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 "verspielt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,365,843 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verhielt" and "verspielt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verhielt vs verhielten". 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 #1,365,843 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.