Which to use
“verlesen” and “verliehen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,753
- “verlesen” frequency rank
- #5,662
- “verliehen” frequency rank
- 25415
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verlesen | verliehen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einen Fehler beim Lesen machen; etwas falsch lesen; ein oder mehrere Worte beim Lesen verwechseln | Partizip Perfekt des Verbs verleihen |
Where the eye mixes verlesen and verliehen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verlesen runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against verliehen's 9 (CVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between verlesen and verliehen
A purely visual mix-up. verlesen ([fɛɐ̯ˈleːzn̩]) and verliehen ([fɛɐ̯ˈliːən]) 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 25415, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
verlesen is recorded at frequency rank #19,753, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈleːzn̩]. verliehen is at rank #5,662, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈliːən].
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 25415, this pair ranks #1,833,653 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verlesen vs verliehen
Shared letters: elnrv. Private to "verlesen": s. Private to "verliehen": hi.
"verlesen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "verliehen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "verlesen" and "verliehen" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "verlesen" vs "verliehen" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "verlesen" and "verliehen" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "verlesen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verliehen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,833,653 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verlesen" and "verliehen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verlesen vs vermiesen". 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 #1,833,653 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.