Which to use
“verkaufe” is a verb and “verkaufte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,481
- “verkaufe” frequency rank
- #8,648
- “verkaufte” frequency rank
- 15129
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verkaufe | verkaufte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verkaufen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verkauft |
Where the eye mixes verkaufe and verkaufte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verkaufe runs 8 letters (CVCCVVCV) against verkaufte's 9 (CVCCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: verkaufe vs verkaufte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verkaufe is [fɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯fə] while verkaufte is [fɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯ftə]. 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 15129, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verkaufe is recorded at frequency rank #6,481, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯fə]. verkaufte is at rank #8,648, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯ftə].
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 15129, this pair ranks #1,946,167 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verkaufe vs verkaufte
Shared letters: aefkruv. Private to "verkaufe": -. Private to "verkaufte": t.
"verkaufe" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV · "verkaufte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verkaufe" and "verkaufte" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "verkaufe" vs "verkaufte" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "verkaufe" and "verkaufte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verkaufe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verkaufte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,946,167 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verkaufe" and "verkaufte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verkaufe vs Verkäufern". 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 #1,946,167 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.