Which to use
“verlange” and “verlängern” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,584
- “verlange” frequency rank
- #9,289
- “verlängern” frequency rank
- 25873
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verlange | verlängern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs verlangen | etwas (räumlich) länger machen; die (räumliche) Ausdehnung von etwas erhöhen |
Where the eye mixes verlange and verlängern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verlange runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against verlängern's 10 (CVCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between verlange and verlängern
A purely visual mix-up. verlange ([fɛɐ̯ˈlaŋə]) and verlängern ([fɛɐ̯ˈlɛŋɐn]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25873, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verlange is recorded at frequency rank #16,584, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlaŋə]. verlängern is at rank #9,289, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlɛŋɐn].
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 25873, this pair ranks #1,826,724 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verlange vs verlängern
Shared letters: eglnrv. Private to "verlange": a. Private to "verlängern": ä.
"verlange" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "verlängern" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verlange ← evrlange · velrange · veralnge · verlagne · verlaneg · verlangge · verlannge · verllange
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verlange" and "verlängern" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "verlange" or "verlängern" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "verlange" and "verlängern" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verlange" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verlängern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,826,724 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verlange" and "verlängern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verlange vs verlangst". 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 #1,826,724 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.