verlängernvsverlängerteWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: verlängern is a verb, verlängerte is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“verlängern” is a verb and “verlängerte” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,289
“verlängern” frequency rank
#16,869
“verlängerte” frequency rank
26158
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verlängern verlängerte
Definition etwas (räumlich) länger machen; die (räumliche) Ausdehnung von etwas erhöhen Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs verlängert

Where the eye mixes verlängern and verlängerte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. verlängern runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVCC) against verlängerte's 11 (CVCCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
verlängern
11 ch
verlängerte

Look-alike desk: verlängern vs verlängerte

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verlängern is [fɛɐ̯ˈlɛŋɐn] while verlängerte is [fɛɐ̯ˈlɛŋɐtə]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26158, 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]. verlängerte is at rank #16,869, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlɛŋɐtə].

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 26158, this pair ranks #1,822,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verlängern vs verlängerte

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

"verlängern" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC  ·  "verlängerte" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verlängern" and "verlängerte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verlängern" is a verb and "verlängerte" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "verlängern" or "verlängerte"?
"verlängern" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,289 in our German list, against #16,869 for "verlängerte". 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 "verlängerte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,822,278 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verlängern" and "verlängerte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verankerte vs verlängerte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,822,278 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