verlegenvsverletzenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,482
“verlegen” frequency rank
#6,739
“verletzen” frequency rank
13221
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verlegen verletzen
Definition eine Sache an einem Ort ablegen, an den man sich später nicht mehr erinnern kann (meist im Nachhinein benutzt: verlegt haben) jemanden physisch (auch lebensgefährlich oder tödlich) verwunden

Where the eye mixes verlegen and verletzen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verlegen runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against verletzen's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
verlegen
9 ch
verletzen

Look-alike desk: verlegen vs verletzen

A purely visual mix-up. verlegen ([fɛɐ̯ˈleːɡn̩]) and verletzen ([fɛɐ̯ˈlɛt͡sn̩]) 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 13221, 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]. verletzen is at rank #6,739, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlɛt͡sn̩].

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 13221, this pair ranks #1,959,340 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verlegen vs verletzen

Shared letters: elnrv. Private to "verlegen": g. Private to "verletzen": tz.

"verlegen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "verletzen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verlegen ← evrlegen · velregen · verelgen · verleegn · verlegenn · verleggen · verlegne · verlgeen
  • verletzen ← evrletzen · velretzen · vereltzen · verletezn · verlettzen · verletzenn · verletzne · verletzzen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "verlegen" for "verletzen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈleːɡn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈlɛt͡sn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "verlegen" or "verletzen" show up more?
"verlegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,482 in our German list, against #6,739 for "verletzen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "verlegen" and "verletzen" 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 "verletzen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,959,340 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verlegen" and "verletzen" 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 #1,959,340 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