verlassenevsverpassenConfusable pair

Quick tell: verlassene is a adjective, verpassen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#27,547
“verlassene” frequency rank
#5,127
“verpassen” frequency rank
32674
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verlassene verpassen
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verlassen ein Ereignis nicht miterleben

Where the eye mixes verlassene and verpassen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verlassene runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVCV) against verpassen's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
verlassene
9 ch
verpassen

Visual trap between verlassene and verpassen

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verlassene is [fɛɐ̯ˈlasənə] while verpassen is [fɛɐ̯ˈpasn̩]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32674, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verlassene is recorded at frequency rank #27,547, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlasənə]. verpassen is at rank #5,127, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈpasn̩].

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 32674, this pair ranks #1,702,502 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verlassene vs verpassen

Shared letters: aenrsv. Private to "verlassene": l. Private to "verpassen": p.

"verlassene" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV  ·  "verpassen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verlassene ← evrlassene · velrassene · veralssene · verlasene · verlasesne · verlasseen · verlassnee · verlaßene
  • verpassen ← evrpassen · veprassen · verapssen · verpasen · verpasesn · verpassenn · verpassne · verpaßen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verlassene" and "verpassen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "verlassene" is an adjective and "verpassen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "verlassene" vs "verpassen" - which ranks higher?
"verpassen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,127 in our German list, against #27,547 for "verlassene". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "verlassene" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verpassen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,702,502 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verlassene" and "verpassen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verblassen vs verlassene". 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 #1,702,502 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