verhütenvsvermutenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,923
“verhüten” frequency rank
#5,325
“vermuten” frequency rank
46248
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verhüten vermuten
Definition den Eintritt eines unerwünschten Ereignisses verhindern etwas für glaubhaft oder wahrscheinlich halten

Where the eye mixes verhüten and vermuten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. verhüten and vermuten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
verhüten
8 ch
vermuten

Look-alike desk: verhüten vs vermuten

A purely visual mix-up. verhüten ([fɛɐ̯ˈhyːtn̩]) and vermuten ([fɛɐ̯ˈmuːtn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46248, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verhüten is recorded at frequency rank #40,923, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈhyːtn̩]. vermuten is at rank #5,325, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmuːtn̩].

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 46248, this pair ranks #1,325,647 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verhüten vs vermuten

Shared letters: enrtv. Private to "verhüten": hü. Private to "vermuten": mu.

"verhüten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "vermuten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vermuten ← evrmuten · vemruten · vermmuten · vermtuen · vermuetn · vermutenn · vermutne · vermutten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verhüten" and "vermuten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈhyːtn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈmuːtn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verhüten" or "vermuten"?
"vermuten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,325 in our German list, against #40,923 for "verhüten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verhüten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vermuten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,325,647 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verhüten" and "vermuten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verhüten vs verorten". 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 #1,325,647 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