verkehrenvsversehenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,863
“verkehren” frequency rank
#2,566
“versehen” frequency rank
19429
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verkehren versehen
Definition nur mit dem Hilfsverb haben: jemanden oder etwas mit etwas ausstatten

Where the eye mixes verkehren and versehen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verkehren runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against versehen's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
verkehren
8 ch
versehen

Visual trap between verkehren and versehen

A purely visual mix-up. verkehren ([fɛɐ̯ˈkeːʁən]) and versehen ([fɛɐ̯ˈzeːən]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19429, 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]. versehen is at rank #2,566, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈzeːən].

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 19429, this pair ranks #1,908,412 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verkehren vs versehen

Shared letters: ehnrv. Private to "verkehren": k. Private to "versehen": s.

"verkehren" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "versehen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verkehrenevrkehren · vekrehren · verekhren · verkehern · verkehhren · verkehrenn · verkehrne · verkehrren
  • versehenevrsehen · vereshen · verrsehen · verseehn · versehenn · versehhen · versehne · versheen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verkehren" for "versehen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈkeːʁən] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈzeːən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verkehren" vs "versehen" - which ranks higher?
"versehen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,566 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.

Useful next steps

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 "versehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,908,412 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verkehren" and "versehen" 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 #1,908,412 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