verhörtvsverstörtWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#24,174
“verhört” frequency rank
#22,198
“verstört” frequency rank
46372
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verhört verstört
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verhören (nicht krankhaft) seelisch oder geistig verwirrt (meist plötzlich und für kurze Zeit)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set verhört and verstört apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
verhört
8 ch
verstört

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verhört is [fɛɐ̯ˈhøːɐ̯t] while verstört is [fɛɐ̯ˈʃtøːɐ̯t]. 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 46372, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verhört is recorded at frequency rank #24,174, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhøːɐ̯t]. verstört is at rank #22,198, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʃtøːɐ̯t].

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 46372, this pair ranks #1,321,315 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verhört vs verstört

Shared letters: ertvö. Private to "verhört": h. Private to "verstört": s.

"verhört" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "verstört" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC

Frequency comparison

verhört#24,174
verstört#22,198

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verhört" and "verstört" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verhört" is a verb and "verstört" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "verhört" or "verstört"?
"verstört" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,198 in our German list, against #24,174 for "verhört". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering verhört vs verstört

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “verhört”; for an adjective, it's “verstört”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “verhört” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list