VerlagenvsverlassenTell them apart

Quick tell: Verlagen is a noun, verlassen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Verlagen” is a noun and “verlassen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,177
“Verlagen” frequency rank
#981
“verlassen” frequency rank
25158
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Verlagen verlassen
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Verlag weggehen, sich entfernen

Where the eye mixes Verlagen and verlassen

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

8 ch
Verlagen
9 ch
verlassen

Look-alike desk: Verlagen vs verlassen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Verlagen is [fɛɐ̯ˈlaːɡn̩] while verlassen is [fɛɐ̯ˈlasn̩]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25158, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Verlagen is recorded at frequency rank #24,177, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlaːɡn̩]. verlassen is at rank #981, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlasn̩].

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 25158, this pair ranks #1,837,322 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Verlagen vs verlassen

Shared letters: aelnrv. Private to "Verlagen": g. Private to "verlassen": s.

"Verlagen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "verlassen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Verlagen ← evrlagen · velragen · veralgen · verlaegn · verlagenn · verlaggen · verlgaen · verllagen
  • verlassen ← evrlassen · velrassen · veralssen · verlasen · verlasesn · verlassenn · verlassne · verlaßen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Verlagen" and "verlassen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Verlagen" is a noun and "verlassen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Verlagen" vs "verlassen" - which ranks higher?
"verlassen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #981 in our German list, against #24,177 for "Verlagen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Verlagen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verlassen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,837,322 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Verlagen" and "verlassen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Vergaben vs Verlagen". 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 #1,837,322 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