verlesenvsverweisenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#19,753
“verlesen” frequency rank
#7,421
“verweisen” frequency rank
27174
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verlesen verweisen
Definition einen Fehler beim Lesen machen; etwas falsch lesen; ein oder mehrere Worte beim Lesen verwechseln auf etwas Anderes aufmerksam machen

Where the eye mixes verlesen and verweisen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
verlesen
9 ch
verweisen

Look-alike desk: verlesen vs verweisen

A purely visual mix-up. verlesen ([fɛɐ̯ˈleːzn̩]) and verweisen ([fɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯zn̩]) 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 27174, 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]. verweisen is at rank #7,421, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯zn̩].

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 27174, this pair ranks #1,806,101 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of verlesen vs verweisen

Shared letters: enrsv. Private to "verlesen": l. Private to "verweisen": iw.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • verlesenevrlesen · velresen · verelsen · verleesn · verlesenn · verlesne · verlessen · verllesen
  • verweisenevrweisen · verewisen · verrweisen · verweiesn · verweisenn · verweisne · verweissen · verwesien

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "verlesen" and "verweisen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛɐ̯ˈleːzn̩] versus [fɛɐ̯ˈvaɪ̯zn̩]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "verlesen" vs "verweisen" - which ranks higher?
"verweisen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,421 in our German list, against #19,753 for "verlesen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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 "verweisen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,806,101 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "verlesen" and "verweisen" 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 #1,806,101 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