verhindertevsverminderteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: verhinderte is a verb, verminderte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“verhinderte” is a verb and “verminderte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,975
“verhinderte” frequency rank
#34,439
“verminderte” frequency rank
49414
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verhinderte verminderte
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verhindern Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs vermindert

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set verhinderte and verminderte apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
verhinderte
11 ch
verminderte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verhinderte is [fɛɐ̯ˈhɪndɐtə] while verminderte is [fɛɐ̯ˈmɪndɐtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - h in “verhinderte” becomes m in “verminderte”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49414, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verhinderte is recorded at frequency rank #14,975, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhɪndɐtə]. verminderte is at rank #34,439, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmɪndɐtə].

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 49414, this pair ranks #1,212,444 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verhinderte vs verminderte

Shared letters: deinrtv. Private to "verhinderte": h. Private to "verminderte": m.

"verhinderte" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCV  ·  "verminderte" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verhinderteevrhinderte · vehrinderte · verhhinderte · verhidnerte · verhindderte · verhinderet · verhinderrte · verhindertte
  • verminderteevrminderte · vemrinderte · verimnderte · vermidnerte · vermindderte · verminderet · verminderrte · vermindertte

Frequency comparison

verhinderte#14,975
verminderte#34,439

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verhinderte" and "verminderte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verhinderte" is a verb and "verminderte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "verhinderte" or "verminderte"?
"verhinderte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,975 in our German list, against #34,439 for "verminderte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering verhinderte vs verminderte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “verhinderte”; for an adjective, it's “verminderte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “verhinderte” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list