Which to use
“verkürzen” is a verb and “verkürzten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,583
- “verkürzen” frequency rank
- #30,841
- “verkürzten” frequency rank
- 47424
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verkürzen | verkürzten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in der Länge kleiner machen | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verkürzt |
Where the eye mixes verkürzen and verkürzten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. verkürzen runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against verkürzten's 10 (CVCCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: verkürzen vs verkürzten
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verkürzen is [fɛɐ̯ˈkʏʁt͡sn̩] while verkürzten is [fɛɐ̯ˈkʏʁt͡stn̩]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47424, 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]. verkürzten is at rank #30,841, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈkʏʁt͡stn̩].
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 47424, this pair ranks #1,284,727 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verkürzen vs verkürzten
Shared letters: eknrvzü. Private to "verkürzen": -. Private to "verkürzten": t.
"verkürzen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verkürzten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verkürzen" for "verkürzten" ever safe?
Which is more common, "verkürzen" or "verkürzten"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "verkürzen" and "verkürzten" 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 "verkürzten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,284,727 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verkürzen" and "verkürzten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verkürzte vs verkürzten". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,284,727 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.