Which to use
“Verlangen” is a noun and “verlängern” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,272
- “Verlangen” frequency rank
- #9,289
- “verlängern” frequency rank
- 11561
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Verlangen | verlängern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | stark ausgeprägter Wunsch; körperlicher, seelischer, geistiger Drang, einen empfundenen Mangel auszugleichen | etwas (räumlich) länger machen; die (räumliche) Ausdehnung von etwas erhöhen |
Where the eye mixes Verlangen and verlängern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Verlangen runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against verlängern's 10 (CVCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: Verlangen vs verlängern
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Verlangen is [fɛɐ̯ˈlaŋən] while verlängern is [fɛɐ̯ˈlɛŋɐn]. 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 11561, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Verlangen is recorded at frequency rank #2,272, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlaŋən]. 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 11561, this pair ranks #1,969,211 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Verlangen vs verlängern
Shared letters: eglnrv. Private to "Verlangen": a. Private to "verlängern": ä.
"Verlangen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verlängern" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Verlangen ← evrlangen · velrangen · veralngen · verlagnen · verlanegn · verlangenn · verlanggen · verlangne
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Verlangen" and "verlängern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Verlangen" vs "verlängern" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Verlangen" and "verlängern" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Verlangen" 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 #1,969,211 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Verlangen" and "verlängern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verärgern vs verlängern". 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 #1,969,211 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.