Which to use
“Verlangen” is a noun and “verlassen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,272
- “Verlangen” frequency rank
- #981
- “verlassen” frequency rank
- 3253
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Verlangen | verlassen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | stark ausgeprägter Wunsch; körperlicher, seelischer, geistiger Drang, einen empfundenen Mangel auszugleichen | weggehen, sich entfernen |
Where the eye mixes Verlangen and verlassen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Verlangen is [fɛɐ̯ˈlaŋən] while verlassen is [fɛɐ̯ˈlasn̩]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3253, 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]. 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 3253, this pair ranks #2,000,606 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Verlangen vs verlassen
Shared letters: aelnrv. Private to "Verlangen": g. Private to "verlassen": s.
"Verlangen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "verlassen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC