verkaufenvsverkauftenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,246
“verkaufen” frequency rank
#11,347
“verkauften” frequency rank
12593
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verkaufen verkauften
Definition einen Gegenstand, eine Ware gegen Geld abgeben Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verkauft

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set verkaufen and verkauften apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
verkaufen
10 ch
verkauften

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

verkaufen and verkauften form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12593, 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]. verkauften is at rank #11,347, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯ftn̩].

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 12593, this pair ranks #1,963,261 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

verkaufen#1,246
verkauften#11,347

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verkaufen" and "verkauften" be used interchangeably?
No, "verkaufen" and "verkauften" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering verkaufen vs verkauften

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “verkaufen”; for an adjective, it's “verkauften”.
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list