Which to use
“verlieben” and “verliefen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,993
- “verlieben” frequency rank
- #22,949
- “verliefen” frequency rank
- 34942
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | verlieben | verliefen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | anfangen, für jemanden Liebe zu empfinden; etwas reizend, nett, schön finden | 1. Person Plural Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs verlaufen |
Where the eye mixes verlieben and verliefen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. verlieben and verliefen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: verlieben vs verliefen
A purely visual mix-up. verlieben ([fɛɐ̯ˈliːbn̩]) and verliefen ([fɛɐ̯ˈliːfn̩]) 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 - b in “verlieben” becomes f in “verliefen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34942, 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]. verliefen is at rank #22,949, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛɐ̯ˈliːfn̩].
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 34942, this pair ranks #1,651,719 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of verlieben vs verliefen
Shared letters: eilnrv. Private to "verlieben": b. Private to "verliefen": f.
"verlieben" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC · "verliefen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "verlieben" and "verliefen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "verlieben" or "verliefen" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "verlieben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "verliefen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,651,719 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "verlieben" and "verliefen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "verliefen 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 #1,651,719 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.