verlassenvsvermissenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#981
“verlassen” frequency rank
#5,781
“vermissen” frequency rank
6762
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verlassen vermissen
Definition weggehen, sich entfernen feststellen, wahrnehmen, dass jemand oder etwas fehlt

Where the eye mixes verlassen and vermissen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
verlassen
9 ch
vermissen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. verlassen ([fɛɐ̯ˈlasn̩]) and vermissen ([fɛɐ̯ˈmɪsn̩]) 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 6762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verlassen is recorded at frequency rank #981, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlasn̩]. vermissen is at rank #5,781, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈmɪsn̩].

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 6762, this pair ranks #1,990,531 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verlassen vs vermissen

Shared letters: enrsv. Private to "verlassen": al. Private to "vermissen": im.

"verlassen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "vermissen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verlassenevrlassen · velrassen · veralssen · verlasen · verlasesn · verlassenn · verlassne · verlaßen
  • vermissenevrmissen · vemrissen · verimssen · vermisen · vermisesn · vermissenn · vermissne · vermißen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verlassen" and "vermissen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈlasn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈmɪsn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "verlassen" or "vermissen"?
"verlassen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #981 in our German list, against #5,781 for "vermissen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list