Which to use
“verleihen” and “verteilen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,415
- “verleihen” frequency rank
- #4,573
- “verteilen” frequency rank
- 11988
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verleihen | verteilen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | etwas zeitweise jemandem überlassen | mehreren Personen einen Teil von etwas geben |
Where the eye mixes verleihen and verteilen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verleihen and verteilen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses verleihen with verteilen
A purely visual mix-up. verleihen ([fɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯ən]) and verteilen ([fɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯lən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11988, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verleihen is recorded at frequency rank #7,415, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈlaɪ̯ən]. verteilen is at rank #4,573, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈtaɪ̯lən].
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 11988, this pair ranks #1,966,818 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verleihen vs verteilen
Shared letters: eilnrv. Private to "verleihen": h. Private to "verteilen": t.
"verleihen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC · "verteilen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verleihen" for "verteilen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "verleihen" vs "verteilen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "verleihen" and "verteilen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verleihen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verteilen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,966,818 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verleihen" and "verteilen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verteile vs verteilen". 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 #1,966,818 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.