Which to use
“verhindern” is a verb and “verhinderten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,494
- “verhindern” frequency rank
- #26,216
- “verhinderten” frequency rank
- 27710
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verhindern | verhinderten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | bewirken, dass etwas nicht geschieht oder dass jemand etwas nicht tun kann | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verhindert |
Where the eye mixes verhindern and verhinderten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. verhindern runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVCC) against verhinderten's 12 (CVCCVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between verhindern and verhinderten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verhindern is [fɛɐ̯ˈhɪndɐn] while verhinderten is [fɛɐ̯ˈhɪndɐtn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 27710, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verhindern is recorded at frequency rank #1,494, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhɪndɐn]. verhinderten is at rank #26,216, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhɪndɐtn̩].
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 27710, this pair ranks #1,797,177 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verhindern vs verhinderten
Shared letters: dehinrv. Private to "verhindern": -. Private to "verhinderten": t.
"verhindern" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC · "verhinderten" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verhindern ← evrhindern · vehrindern · verhhindern · verhidnern · verhinddern · verhindenr · verhindernn · verhinderrn
- verhinderten ← evrhinderten · vehrinderten · verhhinderten · verhidnerten · verhindderten · verhinderetn · verhinderrten · verhindertenn
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verhindern" and "verhinderten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "verhindern" or "verhinderten" show up more?
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 "verhindern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verhinderten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,797,177 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verhindern" and "verhinderten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verhinderten vs verringerten". 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 #1,797,177 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.