Which to use
“verlaufen” is a verb and “verlaufende” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,126
- “verlaufen” frequency rank
- #26,217
- “verlaufende” frequency rank
- 31343
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verlaufen | verlaufende |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | irgendwohin gehen und sich dabei verirren | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verlaufend |
Where the eye mixes verlaufen and verlaufende
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. verlaufen runs 9 letters (CVCCVVCVC) against verlaufende's 11 (CVCCVVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses verlaufen with verlaufende
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: verlaufen is [fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯fn̩] while verlaufende is [fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯fn̩də]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “verlaufen” sits inside “verlaufende”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31343, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verlaufen is recorded at frequency rank #5,126, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯fn̩]. verlaufende is at rank #26,217, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯fn̩də].
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 31343, this pair ranks #1,730,030 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verlaufen vs verlaufende
Shared letters: aeflnruv. Private to "verlaufen": -. Private to "verlaufende": d.
"verlaufen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC · "verlaufende" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- verlaufen ← evrlaufen · velraufen · veralufen · verlafuen · verlauefn · verlaufenn · verlauffen · verlaufne
- verlaufende ← evrlaufende · velraufende · veralufende · verlafuende · verlauefnde · verlaufedne · verlaufendde · verlaufened
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verlaufen" and "verlaufende" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "verlaufen" or "verlaufende" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "verlaufen" and "verlaufende" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verlaufen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verlaufende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,730,030 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verlaufen" and "verlaufende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Verkäufern vs verlaufen". 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 #1,730,030 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.