verlaufenvsverlautenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#5,126
“verlaufen” frequency rank
#36,704
“verlauten” frequency rank
41830
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verlaufen verlauten
Definition irgendwohin gehen und sich dabei verirren zur allgemeinen Kenntnisnahme bringen

Where the eye mixes verlaufen and verlauten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verlaufen and verlauten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
verlaufen
9 ch
verlauten

Look-alike desk: verlaufen vs verlauten

A purely visual mix-up. verlaufen ([fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯fn̩]) and verlauten ([fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯tn̩]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - f in “verlaufen” becomes t in “verlauten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41830, 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]. verlauten is at rank #36,704, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯tn̩].

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 41830, this pair ranks #1,467,777 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verlaufen vs verlauten

Shared letters: aelnruv. Private to "verlaufen": f. Private to "verlauten": t.

"verlaufen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC  ·  "verlauten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verlaufen ← evrlaufen · velraufen · veralufen · verlafuen · verlauefn · verlaufenn · verlauffen · verlaufne
  • verlauten ← evrlauten · velrauten · veraluten · verlatuen · verlauetn · verlautenn · verlautne · verlautten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verlaufen" and "verlauten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯fn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈlaʊ̯tn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verlaufen" vs "verlauten" - which ranks higher?
"verlaufen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,126 in our German list, against #36,704 for "verlauten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "verlaufen" and "verlauten" 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 "verlauten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,467,777 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verlaufen" and "verlauten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Verhauen vs verlauten". 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 #1,467,777 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