verkehrtvsverkehrteConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#6,872
“verkehrt” frequency rank
#23,765
“verkehrte” frequency rank
30637
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verkehrt verkehrte
Definition falsch, dem Richtigen widersprechend Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verkehrt

Where the eye mixes verkehrt and verkehrte

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

8 ch
verkehrt
9 ch
verkehrte

Why the eye confuses verkehrt with verkehrte

A purely visual mix-up. verkehrt ([fɛɐ̯ˈkeːɐ̯t]) and verkehrte ([fɛɐ̯ˈkeːɐ̯tə]) 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 extra letter(s) - “verkehrt” sits inside “verkehrte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30637, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verkehrt is recorded at frequency rank #6,872, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈkeːɐ̯t]. verkehrte is at rank #23,765, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈkeːɐ̯tə].

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 30637, this pair ranks #1,743,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verkehrt vs verkehrte

Shared letters: ehkrtv. Private to "verkehrt": -. Private to "verkehrte": -.

"verkehrt" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC  ·  "verkehrte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verkehrt ← evrkehrt · vekrehrt · verekhrt · verkehhrt · verkehrrt · verkehrtt · verkehtr · verkerht
  • verkehrte ← evrkehrte · vekrehrte · verekhrte · verkehhrte · verkehret · verkehrrte · verkehrtte · verkehtre

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verkehrt" and "verkehrte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈkeːɐ̯t] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈkeːɐ̯tə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verkehrt" vs "verkehrte" - which ranks higher?
"verkehrt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,872 in our German list, against #23,765 for "verkehrte". 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 "verkehrt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verkehrte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,743,974 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verkehrt" and "verkehrte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verehrter vs verkehrte". 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 #1,743,974 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