Which to use
“verlängern” and “verringern” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,289
- “verlängern” frequency rank
- #9,291
- “verringern” frequency rank
- 18580
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verlängern | verringern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas (räumlich) länger machen; die (räumliche) Ausdehnung von etwas erhöhen | etwas kleiner, weniger machen |
Where the eye mixes verlängern and verringern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verlängern and verringern follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses verlängern with verringern
A purely visual mix-up. verlängern ([fɛɐ̯ˈlɛŋɐn]) and verringern ([fɛɐ̯ˈʁɪŋɐn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18580, 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]. verringern is at rank #9,291, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʁɪŋɐn].
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 18580, this pair ranks #1,916,900 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verlängern vs verringern
Shared letters: egnrv. Private to "verlängern": lä. Private to "verringern": i.
"verlängern" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC · "verringern" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- verringern ← evrringern · veringern · verirngern · verrignern · verrinegrn · verringenr · verringernn · verringerrn
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verlängern" and "verringern" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "verlängern" or "verringern"?
Useful next steps
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 "verringern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,916,900 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verlängern" and "verringern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verringern vs verringerten". 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 #1,916,900 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.