Which to use
“verkauft” is an adjective and “verlaufe” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,143
- “verkauft” frequency rank
- #27,548
- “verlaufe” frequency rank
- 28691
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verkauft | verlaufe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | durch Verkauf den Besitzer gewechselt oder an den Kunden beziehungsweise Käufer vergeben | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verlaufen |
Where the eye mixes verkauft and verlaufe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. verkauft (CVCCVVCC) and verlaufe (CVCCVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses verkauft with verlaufe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verkauft is [fɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯ft] while verlaufe is [fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯fə]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28691, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verkauft is recorded at frequency rank #1,143, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯ft]. verlaufe is at rank #27,548, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯fə].
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 28691, this pair ranks #1,780,270 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verkauft vs verlaufe
Shared letters: aefruv. Private to "verkauft": kt. Private to "verlaufe": l.
"verkauft" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC · "verlaufe" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verkauft" and "verlaufe" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "verkauft" or "verlaufe"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verkauft" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verlaufe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,780,270 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verkauft" and "verlaufe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verlaufe vs verlauten". 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 #1,780,270 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.