VerlangenvsverlogenTell them apart

Quick tell: Verlangen is a noun, verlogen is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Verlangen” is a noun and “verlogen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,272
“Verlangen” frequency rank
#34,438
“verlogen” frequency rank
36710
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Verlangen verlogen
Definition stark ausgeprägter Wunsch; körperlicher, seelischer, geistiger Drang, einen empfundenen Mangel auszugleichen Unwahres vortäuschend, unecht

Where the eye mixes Verlangen and verlogen

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

9 ch
Verlangen
8 ch
verlogen

Why the eye confuses Verlangen with verlogen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Verlangen is [fɛɐ̯ˈlaŋən] while verlogen is [fɛɐ̯ˈloːɡn̩]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36710, 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]. verlogen is at rank #34,438, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈloːɡn̩].

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 36710, this pair ranks #1,608,662 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Verlangen vs verlogen

Shared letters: eglnrv. Private to "Verlangen": a. Private to "verlogen": o.

"Verlangen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "verlogen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Verlangen ← evrlangen · velrangen · veralngen · verlagnen · verlanegn · verlangenn · verlanggen · verlangne
  • verlogen ← evrlogen · velrogen · verlgoen · verllogen · verloegn · verlogenn · verloggen · verlogne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Verlangen" and "verlogen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Verlangen" is a noun and "verlogen" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Verlangen" vs "verlogen" - which ranks higher?
"Verlangen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,272 in our German list, against #34,438 for "verlogen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Verlangen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verlogen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,608,662 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Verlangen" and "verlogen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verlogen vs verlogene". 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 #1,608,662 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