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 eye mixes verkaufen and verkauften
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. verkaufen runs 9 letters (CVCCVVCVC) against verkauften's 10 (CVCCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between verkaufen and verkauften
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verkaufen is [fɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯fn̩] while verkauften is [fɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯ftn̩]. 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 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.
Orthographic DNA of verkaufen vs verkauften
Shared letters: aefknruv. Private to "verkaufen": -. Private to "verkauften": t.
"verkaufen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC · "verkauften" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verkaufen ← evrkaufen · vekraufen · verakufen · verkafuen · verkauefn · verkaufenn · verkauffen · verkaufne
- verkauften ← evrkauften · vekrauften · verakuften · verkafuten · verkaufetn · verkaufften · verkauftenn · verkauftne
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verkaufen" and "verkauften" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "verkaufen" or "verkauften" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "verkaufen" and "verkauften" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verkaufen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verkauften" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,963,261 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verkaufen" and "verkauften" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Verkäufern vs verkauften". 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 #1,963,261 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.