verliebenvsverliebtenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: verlieben is a verb, verliebten is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“verlieben” is a verb and “verliebten” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,993
“verlieben” frequency rank
#32,343
“verliebten” frequency rank
44336
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature verlieben verliebten
Definition anfangen, für jemanden Liebe zu empfinden; etwas reizend, nett, schön finden Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs verliebt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set verlieben and verliebten apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
verlieben
10 ch
verliebten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

verlieben and verliebten form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44336, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

verlieben is recorded at frequency rank #11,993, classified as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈliːbn̩]. verliebten is at rank #32,343, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈliːptn̩].

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 44336, this pair ranks #1,389,516 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

verlieben#11,993
verliebten#32,343

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "verlieben" and "verliebten" be used interchangeably?
No, "verlieben" and "verliebten" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering verlieben vs verliebten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “verlieben”; for an adjective, it's “verliebten”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “verlieben” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list