verhütenvsverübtenTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#40,923
“verhüten” frequency rank
#39,115
“verübten” frequency rank
80038
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verhüten verübten
Definition den Eintritt eines unerwünschten Ereignisses verhindern Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verübt

Where the eye mixes verhüten and verübten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verhüten (CVCCVCVC) and verübten (CVCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
verhüten
8 ch
verübten

Visual trap between verhüten and verübten

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verhüten is [fɛɐ̯ˈhyːtn̩] while verübten is [fɛɐ̯ˈʔyːptn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80038, 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]. verübten is at rank #39,115, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʔyːptn̩].

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 80038, this pair ranks #203,792 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of verhüten vs verübten

Shared letters: enrtvü. Private to "verhüten": h. Private to "verübten": b.

"verhüten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "verübten" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verhüten" and "verübten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verhüten" is a verb and "verübten" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "verhüten" or "verübten"?
"verübten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,115 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.

What to do next

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 "verübten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #203,792 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verhüten" and "verübten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verhüten vs verorten". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #203,792 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