Which to use
“verlesen” and “verlosen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,753
- “verlesen” frequency rank
- #30,842
- “verlosen” frequency rank
- 50595
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verlesen | verlosen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | einen Fehler beim Lesen machen; etwas falsch lesen; ein oder mehrere Worte beim Lesen verwechseln | einen Preis austeilen, den diejenige Person gewinnt, die das richtige/gewinnende Los gezogen/erworben hat |
Where the eye mixes verlesen and verlosen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. verlesen and verlosen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: verlesen vs verlosen
A purely visual mix-up. verlesen ([fɛɐ̯ˈleːzn̩]) and verlosen ([fɛɐ̯ˈloːzn̩]) 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 - e in “verlesen” becomes o in “verlosen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50595, 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]. verlosen is at rank #30,842, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈloːzn̩].
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 50595, this pair ranks #1,167,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of verlesen vs verlosen
Shared letters: elnrsv. Private to "verlesen": -. Private to "verlosen": o.
"verlesen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "verlosen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "verlesen" for "verlosen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "verlesen" or "verlosen"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "verlesen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verlosen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,167,717 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verlesen" and "verlosen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verlogene vs verlosen". 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 #1,167,717 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.