verlegenvsverleihenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#6,482
“verlegen” frequency rank
#7,415
“verleihen” frequency rank
13897
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verlegen verleihen
Definition eine Sache an einem Ort ablegen, an den man sich später nicht mehr erinnern kann (meist im Nachhinein benutzt: verlegt haben) etwas zeitweise jemandem überlassen

Where the eye mixes verlegen and verleihen

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

8 ch
verlegen
9 ch
verleihen

Visual trap between verlegen and verleihen

A purely visual mix-up. verlegen ([fɛɐ̯ˈleːɡn̩]) and verleihen ([fɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯ən]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13897, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verlegen is recorded at frequency rank #6,482, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈleːɡn̩]. verleihen is at rank #7,415, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯ən].

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 13897, this pair ranks #1,954,936 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verlegen vs verleihen

Shared letters: elnrv. Private to "verlegen": g. Private to "verleihen": hi.

"verlegen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "verleihen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verlegenevrlegen · velregen · verelgen · verleegn · verlegenn · verleggen · verlegne · verlgeen
  • verleihenevrleihen · velreihen · verelihen · verlehien · verleiehn · verleihenn · verleihhen · verleihne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verlegen" for "verleihen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈleːɡn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯ən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verlegen" vs "verleihen" - which ranks higher?
"verlegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,482 in our German list, against #7,415 for "verleihen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "verlegen" and "verleihen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "verlegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "verleihen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,954,936 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verlegen" and "verleihen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verlegen vs verlogene". 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 #1,954,936 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