Which to use
“Verlangen” is a noun and “verlangte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,272
- “Verlangen” frequency rank
- #10,003
- “verlangte” frequency rank
- 12275
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Verlangen | verlangte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | stark ausgeprägter Wunsch; körperlicher, seelischer, geistiger Drang, einen empfundenen Mangel auszugleichen | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verlangt |
Where the eye mixes Verlangen and verlangte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. Verlangen (CVCCVCCVC) and verlangte (CVCCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between Verlangen and verlangte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Verlangen is [fɛɐ̯ˈlaŋən] while verlangte is [fɛɐ̯ˈlaŋtə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12275, 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]. verlangte is at rank #10,003, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlaŋtə].
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 12275, this pair ranks #1,965,151 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Verlangen vs verlangte
Shared letters: aeglnrv. Private to "Verlangen": -. Private to "verlangte": t.
"Verlangen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verlangte" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Verlangen" for "verlangte" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Verlangen" or "verlangte" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Verlangen" and "verlangte" 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 "verlangte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,965,151 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Verlangen" and "verlangte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verdankte vs verlangte". 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 #1,965,151 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.