verlängernvsverlängertWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“verlängern” and “verlängert” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#9,289
“verlängern” frequency rank
#4,006
“verlängert” frequency rank
13295
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verlängern verlängert
Definition etwas (räumlich) länger machen; die (räumliche) Ausdehnung von etwas erhöhen Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verlängern

Where the eye mixes verlängern and verlängert

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. verlängern and verlängert follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
verlängern
10 ch
verlängert

Why the eye confuses verlängern with verlängert

A purely visual mix-up. verlängern ([fɛɐ̯ˈlɛŋɐn]) and verlängert ([fɛɐ̯ˈlɛŋɐt]) 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 a single letter - n in “verlängern” becomes t in “verlängert”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13295, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verlängern is recorded at frequency rank #9,289, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlɛŋɐn]. verlängert is at rank #4,006, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlɛŋɐt].

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 13295, this pair ranks #1,958,889 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verlängern vs verlängert

Shared letters: eglnrvä. Private to "verlängern": -. Private to "verlängert": t.

"verlängern" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC  ·  "verlängert" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verlängern" and "verlängert" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈlɛŋɐn] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈlɛŋɐt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "verlängern" or "verlängert" show up more?
"verlängert" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,006 in our German list, against #9,289 for "verlängern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "verlängern" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verlängert" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,958,889 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verlängern" and "verlängert" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verärgern vs verlängern". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,958,889 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