verlesenvsverreisenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#19,753
“verlesen” frequency rank
#25,383
“verreisen” frequency rank
45136
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verlesen verreisen
Definition einen Fehler beim Lesen machen; etwas falsch lesen; ein oder mehrere Worte beim Lesen verwechseln eine Reise machen

Where the eye mixes verlesen and verreisen

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

8 ch
verlesen
9 ch
verreisen

Look-alike desk: verlesen vs verreisen

A purely visual mix-up. verlesen ([fɛɐ̯ˈleːzn̩]) and verreisen ([fɛɐ̯ˈʁaɪ̯zn̩]) 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 45136, 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]. verreisen is at rank #25,383, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈʁaɪ̯zn̩].

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 45136, this pair ranks #1,363,248 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of verlesen vs verreisen

Shared letters: enrsv. Private to "verlesen": l. Private to "verreisen": i.

"verlesen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "verreisen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verlesenevrlesen · velresen · verelsen · verleesn · verlesenn · verlesne · verlessen · verllesen
  • verreisenevrreisen · vereisen · vererisen · verreiesn · verreisenn · verreisne · verreissen · verresien

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verlesen" and "verreisen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈleːzn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈʁaɪ̯zn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "verlesen" or "verreisen" show up more?
"verlesen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,753 in our German list, against #25,383 for "verreisen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "verlesen" and "verreisen" 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 "verreisen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,363,248 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verlesen" and "verreisen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verreisen vs verreist". 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 #1,363,248 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