verkürzenvsverkürztWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#16,583
“verkürzen” frequency rank
#9,653
“verkürzt” frequency rank
26236
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verkürzen verkürzt
Definition in der Länge kleiner machen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verkürzen

Where the eye mixes verkürzen and verkürzt

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

9 ch
verkürzen
8 ch
verkürzt

Look-alike desk: verkürzen vs verkürzt

A purely visual mix-up. verkürzen ([fɛɐ̯ˈkʏʁt͡sn̩]) and verkürzt ([fɛɐ̯ˈkʏʁt͡st]) 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 26236, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verkürzen is recorded at frequency rank #16,583, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈkʏʁt͡sn̩]. verkürzt is at rank #9,653, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈkʏʁt͡st].

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 26236, this pair ranks #1,821,163 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verkürzen vs verkürzt

Shared letters: ekrvzü. Private to "verkürzen": n. Private to "verkürzt": t.

"verkürzen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "verkürzt" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verkürzen" and "verkürzt" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈkʏʁt͡sn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈkʏʁt͡st]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verkürzen" or "verkürzt"?
"verkürzt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,653 in our German list, against #16,583 for "verkürzen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "verkürzen" and "verkürzt" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verkürzen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verkürzt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,821,163 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verkürzen" and "verkürzt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verdutzt vs verkürzt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,821,163 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