Which to use
“verkaufte” is an adjective and “verläuft” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,648
- “verkaufte” frequency rank
- #5,663
- “verläuft” frequency rank
- 14311
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verkaufte | verläuft |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verkauft | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verlaufen |
Where the eye mixes verkaufte and verläuft
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. verkaufte runs 9 letters (CVCCVVCCV) against verläuft's 8 (CVCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: verkaufte vs verläuft
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verkaufte is [fɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯ftə] while verläuft is [fɛɐ̯ˈlɔɪ̯ft]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14311, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verkaufte is recorded at frequency rank #8,648, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈkaʊ̯ftə]. verläuft is at rank #5,663, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlɔɪ̯ft].
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 14311, this pair ranks #1,952,091 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verkaufte vs verläuft
Shared letters: efrtuv. Private to "verkaufte": ak. Private to "verläuft": lä.
"verkaufte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCCV · "verläuft" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verkaufte ← evrkaufte · vekraufte · verakufte · verkafute · verkaufet · verkauffte · verkauftte · verkautfe
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verkaufte" and "verläuft" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "verkaufte" or "verläuft" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verkaufte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verläuft" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,952,091 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verkaufte" and "verläuft" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verkaufte vs versäumte". 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 #1,952,091 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.