verkaufenvsVerkäufernWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: verkaufen is a verb, Verkäufern is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“verkaufen” is a verb and “Verkäufern” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,246
“verkaufen” frequency rank
#47,819
“Verkäufern” frequency rank
49065
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verkaufen Verkäufern
Definition einen Gegenstand, eine Ware gegen Geld abgeben Dativ Plural des Substantivs Verkäufer

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set verkaufen and Verkäufern apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
verkaufen
10 ch
Verkäufern

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verkaufen is [fɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯fn̩] while Verkäufern is [fɛɐ̯ˈkɔɪ̯fɐn]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49065, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verkaufen is recorded at frequency rank #1,246, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯fn̩]. Verkäufern is at rank #47,819, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈkɔɪ̯fɐn].

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 49065, this pair ranks #1,225,347 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verkaufen vs Verkäufern

Shared letters: efknruv. Private to "verkaufen": a. Private to "Verkäufern": ä.

"verkaufen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC  ·  "Verkäufern" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verkaufenevrkaufen · vekraufen · verakufen · verkafuen · verkauefn · verkaufenn · verkauffen · verkaufne

Frequency comparison

verkaufen#1,246
Verkäufern#47,819

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verkaufen" and "Verkäufern" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verkaufen" is a verb and "Verkäufern" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "verkaufen" or "Verkäufern"?
"verkaufen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,246 in our German list, against #47,819 for "Verkäufern". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering verkaufen vs Verkäufern

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “verkaufen”; for a noun, it's “Verkäufern”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “verkaufen” 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