verkehrenvsvermehrenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“verkehren” and “vermehren” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,863
“verkehren” frequency rank
#14,198
“vermehren” frequency rank
31061
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verkehren vermehren
Definition nur mit dem Hilfsverb haben: die Menge von etwas vergrößern oder auch mehr werden

Where the eye mixes verkehren and vermehren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verkehren and vermehren follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
verkehren
9 ch
vermehren

Look-alike desk: verkehren vs vermehren

A purely visual mix-up. verkehren ([fɛɐ̯ˈkeːʁən]) and vermehren ([fɛɐ̯ˈmeːʁən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - k in “verkehren” becomes m in “vermehren”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31061, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verkehren is recorded at frequency rank #16,863, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈkeːʁən]. vermehren is at rank #14,198, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmeːʁən].

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 31061, this pair ranks #1,735,597 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verkehren vs vermehren

Shared letters: ehnrv. Private to "verkehren": k. Private to "vermehren": m.

"verkehren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "vermehren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verkehrenevrkehren · vekrehren · verekhren · verkehern · verkehhren · verkehrenn · verkehrne · verkehrren
  • vermehrenevrmehren · vemrehren · veremhren · vermehern · vermehhren · vermehrenn · vermehrne · vermehrren

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verkehren" and "vermehren" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈkeːʁən] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈmeːʁən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verkehren" or "vermehren"?
"vermehren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,198 in our German list, against #16,863 for "verkehren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "verkehren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vermehren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,735,597 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verkehren" and "vermehren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verkehren vs verwahren". 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 #1,735,597 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list